Dust to Dust
by Haitus80
Summary: A/U Sequel to Saints and Sinners. The dead are rising, the stakes are high and the three Dixon men are about to show the rest of their group how it's done. Whether it be from the living or from the dead, any threat is going to be met with a vicious bloody end. This is a world where Buck can thrive indeed, in true Dixon fashion. Time for his boys to learn his trade.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, at least I _tried_ to take a break. I just missed you all too much to stay away ;) Okay, there is no gap here. I started pretty much right where I left off. I hope that's okay. I hope you like this installment as much as you liked the first! This is in no way related to another little sequel that will be posted soon called Ashes to Ashes by Axelrocks. I didn't want anyone to be confused. Okay, enough jabbering. Thank you for reading! I'm so excited that I can continue on with this specific group of readers. Much love to every single crazy one of you!**

Chapter One

Of course it would rain. Why not, right? The world was swiftly screeching to a halt so of course fate would find it fitting to throw buckets of water on his head. Just another proverbial fuck you to Daryl Dixon. It was dark out now and he couldn't stay away from the windows. Pacing back and forth, take a look out at the deserted street, pace some more. The others were in the living room in front of the T.V.. Front row tickets to the end of the world. He wished that thought would stop running laps through his mind. It couldn't be the end, right? Things had just gotten started for him.

Carol told them what she had seen. That had been hours ago. It already felt like days, really. Whatever these things were, they were eating people. _Eating_ people. He hadn't believed her until they had stood there, in awe, and watched it happen themselves. People running around, chaos being captured behind a camera lens. He couldn't believe that they had even showed that shit. None of it was censored. When they just kept repeating the same footage on one channel over and over Buck would just find another channel. It seemed like each new station he turned it too showed a little more. New York City was the scariest. After seeing the news footage for that he left the room.

He didn't think it was the greatest idea for Carol to watch anymore of it either but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He knew how scared she was. He was starting to get scared himself. Not just because of all the strange things happening but because he didn't know what to do about any of it. He did know that he'd die before letting anything hurt her. He knew that without a doubt. Another thing that was scaring him was the fact that the phone lines were down. Merle had left to go to the Greene farm hours ago and wasn't back yet. He had no way of knowing if his brother was alright or not.

They hadn't gotten a hold of Andrea either. She wasn't at work when Buck called there and by the time he dialed her cell number the phone went dead. Carol tried to call her from her own cell phone but it wouldn't work either. It was just dead. As dead as those things that were running around the streets that they had been watching.

Blue paced with him so at least he wasn't alone. Smart little fucker. He had forgotten all about Philip stopping by. "You know bat shit crazy when ya see it, dont'cha, boy? Even if ya ain't got no balls."

Blue cocked his ear and padded over to the door, his short tail swishing slowly as he sniffed at it. Daryl saw headlights hit the windows just as Blues tail went crazy and his head lifted up, waiting expectantly. Daryl hurried out onto the porch, hoping to see the Charger but he was sorely disappointed. It was Shane's jeep.

He watched as Shane jumped out and hurried towards him, still in uniform. Right behind Shane's Jeep came Rick's truck and Andrea's car. By the time Shane made it to the porch through the downpour he could hear the distinct rumble of the car, even over the rain. A few seconds later Merle pulled in. Once he knew his brother was okay he was able to think of other things. Like how the house was full of illegal guns and their police pals were about to walk inside. What the hell was everyone doing?

Shane finally made it onto the porch as everyone else rushed towards the house. He looked pale, eyes a little wider than usual. He shook water from his dark hair. "Merle told us to get our asses here. All the phones are down now." He said as he glanced behind him at Rick and Lori who were hurrying up the porch steps. Andrea and Dale were right on their heels, followed by Glen, Maggie, Hershel, Beth and Merle.

"Merle, what the hell are ya doin' havin' everybody come here?" He hissed in Merle's ear as soon as he was on the porch.

Merle ran a hand through his short hair. "The fuck you expect me to do? Let'em all die? You wouldn't believe it. That thing in the barn..." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "It was the same as the thing I saw last night. It was eatin' a fuckin' cow!"

"Merle called us in. It's all true." Rick said quickly. "The thing came at Shane and he shot it."

Daryl heard the door open behind him and Andrea hurried past. He turned just in time to see her crash into Buck. Carol slipped out from behind the couple and came straight towards him. She looked a lot more calm than he expected her too. She took his hand and stood beside him.

"So, shooting it? Did it kill it?" Daryl asked.

Rick pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Four rounds to the chest didn't do a thing. You wouldn't have believed it. I still don't believe it. It was almost right on Hershel when..." Rick's voice trailed off.

"Merle put a pitchfork through the back of it's head." Shane finished for him. "Dropped it." He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced around. "We need to get inside. Now."

They all filed in, gathering in the kitchen while Andrea brewed a pot of coffee. "So what now then?" Daryl asked as he drew Carol closer.

Buck put his hands on his hips and gave every one of them a once over. "We need more people. We got the fire power already, but if what happened in New York happens here then we'll need more people to handle the fire. One of them things, or more than one of them things shows up here then make sure you aim for the head."

Rick and Shane watched him carefully before either of them said anything. It was Rick that finally spoke up this time, his arm wrapped around Lori, who looked to be in shock. "We can't stay here long. They'll quarantine this place soon. Last we heard on the radios Atlanta has been quarantined and so have a few other places. One was just a few counties over. I don't know about you but I wanna be out of here before anything like that happens."

Buck stared at him, his eyes hard. "How many other people do you think came to the same conclusion? How many lights you see on in the houses on this street alone, huh? People's gonna get their asses stuck on the roads, you dumb asses. We need to stay here, least for a little while."

"What's this fire power you're talking about? How many guns to you Dixons have?" Shane asked.

"More than enough." Buck said, his lips twitched as his eyes flicked over to meet Daryl's. "I think we should all stay here tonight. Keep the doors and shit guarded. We'll know more about what's goin' on in the mornin'."

"I think we need to get the hell out of this town." Rick said firmly. "It isn't safe. We know those things are here. We already saw one."

Buck just shrugged. "You wanna risk your life, your wife and that baby of yours, that's your business boy. Me and mine ain't goin' nowhere."

Shane looked torn as Rick and Buck stared each other down but even he could see the logic in what Buck was saying. "He's right Rick. You can't be riskin' Lori and the baby on a long shot. We don't know where to go. At least here we got numbers and we got guns. I'm with Buck, man."

Rick looked at him sharply. "We'll be sitting ducks."

"Out there all we'll do is get caught in a traffic jam, man. Just think about this for a second." Shane pleaded his case.

"Rick, please." Lori whispered.

Rick glanced down at Lori and then back up to meet Buck's level gaze. He nodded causing Shane to sigh in relief. Lori visibly relaxed at his side. Hershel was the one that finally brought up the obvious once more, asking about the guns that Buck had admitted to having.

"It don't matter where the damn things came from." Merle snapped. "What matters is that we have enough to keep us alive. Why the fuck y'all looking a gift horse in the mouth. It's a good thing we gott'em. It should be left at that."

Shane and Rick shared another look but Daryl was barely paying any attention now. He was starting to notice how tense Carol was becoming as she pressed against him. He looked down and winced at how pale and scared she was starting to look. Without thinking about sticking around and discussing what the hell they were going to do he walked out of the kitchen, pulling her along with him.

"Daryl, what are you doing?" She asked as he led her towards the stairs.

"There's enough people here to figure out what the hell's goin' on. Me and you ain't gotta be in there." He said as he nearly pulled her up the stairs.

"We should be down there." She argued half heartedly.

He shook his head and didn't say anything else until their bedroom door was shut firmly. "No, we shouldn't. It's late. It's been a long fucked up day." He peeled off his shirt. "And we're goin' to bed."

"Daryl, there's a room full of people down there that need..." She began but he didn't let her finish.

"Them people down there ain't my goddamn priority. You are." He snapped as he dropped to his knees and pulled two M5s out from under the bed. He sat one down on the nightstand and the other he put between the nightstand and the bed.

"Jesus, are those..."

"These will keep anything out that don't need to be in here." He said, again not letting her finish her sentence. She was stressed out, scared and tired. He could see it in her face. That wasn't good. That wasn't good for her and it wasn't good for...

"We have to go help them figure out what we're going to do." She said suddenly, hands on her hips and frown on her face.

He needed to calm down. She was fine. The baby was fine. He just needed to convince her that the others would be okay without them for a while. "The only thing they are gonna do tonight is argue about what to do. Ain't nothin' gonna get done. I don't want you stressin' out. It ain't good, alright." He kept his voice as convincing as he could.

"Daryl, we can't do this." She whispered.

His head snapped up. "Do what?"

"You saw what's happening out there. You saw those things. Soon it's going to get worse. And we're planning on bringing a baby into this?"

He sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at her. What the hell was she talking about? Was it bad? Fuck yeah it was bad. He wasn't an idiot. But they'd be alright. Somehow they would be okay. "What are tryin' to say?" He asked after studying her face for a while. She wasn't looking at him. She was staring at the wall.

She finally met his eyes and he had to look away. He knew what she was trying to say. She was trying to say that they needed to end it while they still could. Fuck, he couldn't even blame her for feeling that way. This was some crazy scary shit. It was like they weren't allowed to have any peace. It was one thing after another. Like he was never suppose to have had this. Never suppose to have had her. And to make up for all the good shit that had suddenly fallen right into his lap out of nowhere, bad shit had to happen. First Jim and now dead people walking around eating people. And the baby, the baby was going to make things worse. He felt sick even thinking it but it was true. It would slow them down if they ever had to run and he had a feeling they were going to. They wouldn't be able to stay here.

But it was his. Not just his like Carol was his either. This was something that was part of who he was, growing and thriving. He'd heard it's fucking heart beating for Gods sake. Saw it _living_. He'd never wanted this. Ever. He could have gone the rest of his life and never ever had a damn kid and would have been fine with it. Hell, he would have been thankful for it. But now that it was there. Now that he had heard it, it was like air. He needed it. He couldn't explain this to her because he didn't understand it himself. Not at all. But it was still there.

He hadn't even realized that his head was now in his hands until he felt her fingers run through his hair. He hadn't realized that his eyes were stinging and there was a lump the size of a fucking soft ball in his throat, blocking his voice and clogging his airways. He was about two seconds away from having a complete breakdown if he didn't get his shit together right now. And he had to get his shit together because he had to be okay in case she was about to do the same thing.

He took a few deep breaths. They were going to be okay. His kid was going to be okay. If anything threatened them, whether it be one of those walking dead or the mailman. He didn't care. They were going to die. He was going to take their fucking heads off. He'd take their heads off with his own goddamn teeth if need be. Nothing was going to hurt them. Not her. Not the baby.

A few more seconds and he moved his hands and lifted his head. She was still standing in front of him, hands still in his hair. He stood up and drew her closer, feeling a little better when her arms went around his neck. "Ain't nothin' gonna happen to either one of you, alright."

She nodded, eyes wide. She must have seen something in his eyes that reassured her because she gave him a weak smile and a shrug. "If anybodies kid can survive all this crap it's yours."

He nodded, watching her eyes closely to make sure she was really okay. She still looked scared but he also saw a steely determination there that hadn't been there before. "Damn straight." He growled right before he kissed her.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm thrilled that the first chapter to this was a success! I was so happy to see all those familiar names popping up. You are all awesome! I hope you like this chapter just as much. Even in the summary I made it a point to mention that this is going to be a world that Buck can thrive in. In this chapter you will see why. I hope you all enjoy it! Thank you for reading and have yourselves a good morning! **

Chapter Two

Carol woke up to a clap of thunder that shook the windows. She sat up, gasping. Her first thought was that one of those things were breaking through the wall, jaws snapping, black blood dripping... her stomach lurched and before Daryl could even ask her if she was alright she was bolting for the bathroom.

She barely made it in time. It wasn't until she was dry heaving that she realized she had barely eaten anything today. She grimaced. She was already turning into a hell of a mom. She heaved again and then felt a cool cloth on the back of her neck. She turned her head, fully expecting to see Daryl but she was surprised. Merle knelt down next to her, rubbing soothing circles into her back.

"Looks like it's my turn, huh?" He smiled.

She nodded and then heaved some more, her ribs aching. If Daryl was sleeping through this she was going to go sleep with Merle and Beth and leave him in that big empty bed by himself.

"She alright?" Buck asked from the doorway.

"Yep. Me and her and puke go way back, don't we little sister?" Merle said gravely.

She nodded and then laughed at their role reversal.

"Only difference is, my heroin addiction had me sick. Your sex addiction is whats gotten you down." He chuckled at his own joke and she couldn't help but laugh with him. It wasn't far from the truth. Maybe those damn pills would have worked if they had been able to keep their hands off of each other for more than a day.

He handed her a glass and then her toothbrush when she stood up. She used to do the same thing for him when he was really sick. She shook her head, rinsed her mouth and started scrubbing, even though she hadn't actually gotten sick. When she made her way back to her room she found the light on and the room empty.

The gun that had been sitting on the nightstand was gone. She sat down on the edge of the bed and then fell backwards, staring up at the ceiling. She was scared. More scared than she would ever admit to Daryl or Buck or even Merle. She didn't even lift her head to look at Daryl when she heard him come in and shut the door. She felt so tired. All she wanted to do was curl up next to him and sleep until all of this was over. If it was ever going to be over. Surely they would figure out what was causing this and put an end to it.

She heard him set something down and then felt the mattress sink on either side of her. His shadow fell across her face and then he was peering down at her, one hand on each side of her hips as he loomed over her. His hair was getting longer, falling around his face so she reached up and tucked it behind his ears.

"You ain't hardly ate anything all day." He grumbled at her narrowing his eyes.

She sighed. "I know. I haven't been hungry."

"Eat." He ordered as he grabbed her hands and pulled her up so she was sitting again. He handed her a paper plate. She smiled. He had made her a sandwich and even put some chips and a banana on the plate for her. She still wasn't hungry but she picked up the sandwich anyway, taking a bite without really tasting it. He watched her carefully.

"Did they decide what to do?" She asked after she had most of the sandwich eaten.

"Buck thinks we need to start stockin' up on food and shit. Mother fucker is bout out of his head. He's talkin' about stealin' a box truck or some shit and loadin' it down with supplies. Rick and Shane shot him down though. Threatened to arrest him if he tried to pull a stunt like that."

Carol frowned. "What did he have to say to that?"

Daryl shook his head. "Said they could try. He didn't elaborate. I think he's got most of them scared."

"If anybody can get us through this it's him." She said, even though she had to wonder how smart stealing a box truck would be.

He nodded and then leaned back on his elbows. "Yeah but Rick and him are gonna end up buttin' heads."

"My money is on Buck." Carol deadpanned right before she bit off a chunk of the banana.

"If Buck thinks Rick's a liability, he'll kill him." Daryl said, watching her still.

Carol nearly choked on the stupid fruit. Daryl sat up and gave her back a few pats. "He would not." She said after she swallowed it down.

"Buck is gonna do what he has to do to keep you safe. Keep us all safe. Right now, Buck would kill anybody in this house that ain't me, Merle, you, Beth or Andrea. If he thought Rick was gonna end up causin' one of us to get hurt then Rick would be a dead man."

He reached for her empty plate. She hadn't even realized that she had eaten it all. "He wouldn't kill our friends."

Daryl just shrugged. "Go back to sleep. Hopefully Rick don't try no shit and we wont have to find out."

She watched him leave the room with that wicked looking gun in his hand. She refused to think that Buck would actually hurt anyone like that. He wasn't a criminal anymore. She crawled back under the blankets and listened to the rain for a while as she waited on him to come back. She was already drifting back to sleep before she felt him lay down and pull her closer.

~H~

Buck was inspecting the guns that he had laid out all over the island. On one hand he wanted to smack the shit out of Merle for doing something so goddamn stupid. On the other hand he could have hugged the little shit for getting himself mixed up in Oscar's bullshit. It was one of them blessing in disguises or something like that. His skin was still crawling every time he thought about the images he had watched earlier. This was some real bad shit.

He looked up and saw Shane and Rick eyeballing him again. He had liked them okay before but now they were getting on his fucking nerves. He kept telling himself that they were young and dumb and still thought that law was going to still mean something. Buck knew better. Law wasn't going to count for shit and if they didn't stop looking at him like that he was going to smash their fucking heads together.

"You two got a problem? Do we need to have a sit down so I can explain these to you one more time?" He growled.

"Buck." Andrea said quietly. Her hand was on his back and the touch usually did a lot to sooth his nerves but it wasn't doing a whole lot for him at the moment.

He had to keep reminding himself that he needed them. All of them. If not for that then he would have sent them all on their way. Well, maybe not Hershel and Maggie or the Asian kid, those three wouldn't make it two hours out there if it ended up getting as bad as it had gotten in the cities. But if it was just the six of them then it would be a lot easier to feed and shelter. But he wouldn't do that. He needed them because there would be a lot more of those things out there than there was them as it was and they needed people. People that could shoot and help keep them alive.

His nerves spiked again when Blue bolted out from under the table and hurried down the hall towards the front door. He was about to grab one of the big guns but he opted for a handgun. He tucked it into the back of his pants and took off after the dog. Sure enough Blue was sniffing around the door, tail swishing.

He looked out but he couldn't really tell who was there. Someone was standing there, though. He knew that much. A few seconds later there was a light tap at the door. Buck wasn't the smartest man in the world but he knew that the dead didn't knock so he opened it.

"The fuck you doin' here?" He asked as soon as he saw Oscar standing there. He had brought a few guys with him. He instantly didn't like them. One looked harmless enough. He was a wiry black kid. He was a shifty eyed little fucker. The other one, for some reason, sent Buck's teeth on edge. He had dark hair pulled back in a greasy looking ponytail, thin mustache and narrowed eyes. He stood behind Oscar like he was there as muscle or something. Buck knew the look because he used to be the muscle for that family.

He opened the door wider and the three men came in.

"Man, I need to talk to Merle real quick and then we'll get out of your hair." Oscar said quickly. "Have you guys seen what's been going on out there?"

Buck nodded, keeping most of his attention on the guy beside his old friend.

"Oh, this is Tomas. Tomas, Buck. Buck is the one I was tellin' you about that was the old man's right hand. And this is Andrew. He's a supplier." Oscar made quick introductions.

Buck just looked at the three of them and then he heard footsteps coming from the hallway towards them. It must have been Shane and Rick because the three men in front of him paled. Even Oscar and Andrew.

"Can you get Merle. We just need to grab a few things and then we'll be on our way." Oscar said, his voice laced with anxiety now.

Buck crossed his arms over his chest. "Grab a few things, huh? Like those guns you had him stash for ya?"

Oscar looked at him in disbelief. "Buck, come on man. We need those. You saw what's happenin' out there."

"Yeah, I did. That's why them fuckin' guns ain't goin' anywhere. You can stay here, I've known you since you was a boy. Course, I don't trust ya since that stunt you pulled on Merle. But I owe it to your daddy to keep ya around. Your boys gotta hit the road, though. Ain't no room for the likes of them around here." Buck eyed the dark haired man.

The guy was glaring at him now.

"You might wanna think about wipin' that look off your face there, tough guy. Before I break your fuckin' jaw." Buck cracked his neck.

"Look." Oscar held up his hands and stood between Buck and Tomas. "All I want is my guns back, alright? I'll even leave a few here for you. I didn't come here for trouble, Buck."

That was about all Buck could handle. Didn't come here for trouble but made sure he brought two men with him to even up the odds a bit if shit got ugly. Brought them into the house where his family lived. He grabbed Oscar by the throat and slammed him into the wall. He drew the gun and shoved it in his old friend's face, pressing the barrel against Oscar's mouth. He'd never kill him but Oscar needed to learn a lesson real quick.

"Open it!" He roared.

Oscar squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. He heard a commotion behind him but all of his attention was on Oscar, who was trying to shake his head back and forth.

"Open your fuckin' mouth!" He yelled again and this time Oscar did, the barrel of the gun slipping between his teeth. "You con my goddamn son into stashin' your fuckin' guns. And then you bring this garbage into my house? The fuck is wrong with you, boy?"

"Buck!"

His head whipped around at the sound of Carol's strained voice. Rage exploded in his head and he instantly saw red. Andrew, the smaller shifty guy, had one arm around her neck and a gun pressed to her temple. Rick and Shane both had guns on the kid but he didn't seem to even see them. Carol's eyes were wide and fearful but she was very still looking at him like she knew he would get her away from the kid before he could hurt her.

"Let Oscar go or I swear to God I'm gonna paint the wall with this bitches..." Andrews eyes widened and he dropped like a stone.

Buck slid the barrel of the gun out of Oscars mouth and let go of him completely, confusion clouding his mind until he looked up. Daryl lowered the crossbow and flew down the stairs. Sure enough, there was a bolt sticking out of the back of Andrew's head.

Daryl pushed her behind him as soon as he hit the bottom of the stairs, raising the crossbow once more and aiming it at Tomas's chest. Buck looked at the other man who was waving his own gun around like a real dumb ass. Shane and Rick both had guns on the man.

"Tomas, put the fuckin' gun down. I already told you, man. No one here gets hurt. That ain't why I brought you here" Oscar cursed.

Tomas pointed at Andrew. "That fuckin' redneck killed Andrew. That maniac was about to blow your brains out!" Tomas was glaring at Oscar now.

"He wasn't gonna kill me. Put the fuckin' gun down." Oscar said again, amazingly enough he, too, went to Daryl's side to block any stray bullets from hitting Carol.

Buck knew Tomas's kind. He hated to admit it but he was just like him when he was younger. "Look at ya, hide behind your gun you little pussy." Buck barked out a laugh.

Tomas glared. "Don't think for a minute that I'm afraid of you, big man. You don't have a clue what I could do to you."

Buck tossed his own gun to the floor and motioned for the boy to come on with it.

"You serious?" Tomas laughed. "Tell the kid to quit pointin' that thing at me. Your cop buddies too."

"Drop the bow, Daryl. Rick, Shane. I got this." Buck never took his eyes off of Tomas.

Daryl lowered the bow and Rick lowered his weapon but Shane held onto the gun.

"Shane. I got this." He repeated.

Shane's nostrils flared and Buck could tell his teeth were clenched but he finally lowered the gun.

Buck knew, deep down, that he shouldn't do this here. Not in front of everyone that was now standing around. Merle and Beth were now on the stairs, watching with wide eyes. Hershel, Glen and Maggie were there too. He spared a glance behind them and Andrea was watching him, her arm around Lori who was crying quietly into her shoulder. When Andrea met his eyes she gave a slight nod. She knew what he was doing. Hershel had a hold of Blue's harness as the dog thrashed and lunged.

Rick and Shane needed to understand something. They all did. His own boys already knew. The world was going to go to shit real quick after everything they had seen happen today. They were going to wake up in the morning and things were going to be a lot different. Rules weren't going to apply anymore other than the ones they made up along the way. This was going to be a world where the only way you can survive was be ready for anything. Buck was ready for it. He had a grandkid on the way, he had kids to protect, he had a woman that needed him. Yeah, the rest of them needed to understand...

Tomas shoved his gun into the waistband of his pants and stalked towards Buck with a purpose. Malice radiated off him in waves. He was the type of man that didn't get his ass kicked very often. Too bad this wasn't this kids lucky night. He lunged, like a cocky little fucker. He was bigger than the rest of the men there but he wasn't bigger than Buck. He hit Buck twice. Buck let him. They were body shots, meant to maybe double him over or something. It caused his stomach to ache a little but that was it.

"That all ya got?" Buck asked, smiling broadly. "Andrea, get Carol and Lori outta here. Beth, go on back upstairs. This ain't gonna take long." He heard Beth's footsteps hurrying up the stairs and from the corner of his eye he watched the other women leave the room. Maggie followed without being told.

Buck was able to block a couple of really strategic kicks but he was getting tired of this runaround.

"You got yourself some fine pieces around here, Dixon. You boys should think about sharin'." Tomas laughed. "Wouldn't mind takin'em for a spin."

Buck had to give it to him. This guy had balls.

Tomas aimed for his face next but Buck caught his wrist. And then he snapped it. "Ain't the sharin' type, asshole." He growled as the stunned Tomas screeched. The loud cry was cut off when Buck grabbed him by the head with both hands and gave a vicious twist. He shoved the lifeless form towards the stairs where he landed next to his dead friend.

Buck backed up so he had a view of every man standing in the room. Merle came down the stairs, stepped over the two bodies and then stood beside his brother. Other than Daryl, Merle and Oscar the rest of them looked completely pale. Ghostly white, wide eyed and speechless.

"That," he pointed to the two corpses, "wasn't shit compared to whats comin'. Y'all gotta understand that. There ain't gonna be no law no more. You wanna live in the world that's comin' then every one of you mother fuckers gotta learn to kill. You don't think about it. You fuckin' do it. You don't and you're gonna lose everything. You think you're gonna have a problem learnin' that quick then you need to hit the road cause I ain't losin' none of my family cause y'all ain't got the grit to kill when it's time to kill."

No one said a word so Buck walked towards them on his way to the kitchen to check on Carol. He smacked Oscar in the side of the head so hard that it bounced off the wall. "Bringin' that trash in here. The fuck's wrong with you?" He grumbled as he walked past. Merle and Daryl followed behind him silently.


	3. Chapter 3

**Good morning! This is just a filler, just warning you. Things pick up a little more in the next chapter! Thank you all for reading! I'm still super excited for the things to come in this sequel! I just have to do a little character building first. I'm glad you are all as excited as I am, still! Much love to all of you! **

Chapter Three

Daryl was watching Carol closely as Buck started showing her everything about all of the guns that they had. He chose one of the M5's for her because it was less likely to hurt her and it was the type of gun that they had the most of. She watched Buck closely, nodding as he filled her in on the basics. The other women were watching also but Buck's attention was only on Carol.

Daryl kept his crossbow on his back. It made him feel a little better even though they were standing in a room filled with high powered guns. He knew the bow. He was familiar with it. He figured it was smart to keep something around that was more stealthy than the guns, just in case.

Rick and Shane were standing off in a corner by themselves, every now and then they would glance towards Buck and then keep on chatting. Daryl was sure Rick thought Buck was out of his mind. He was probably discussing a way to take the big bastard down without getting himself killed. Daryl hoped like hell Rick didn't try it because Buck wouldn't hesitate to put him in his place.

He thought about that guy holding a gun to Carol's head. When she had gotten out of bed he had been sure that she was just going to the bathroom. He hadn't even known she had went downstairs until he heard the commotion. He'd grabbed the bow instead of the gun, on impulse. He'd nearly pissed himself when he seen that guy grab her like that and then threaten her. He realized then that he had more Buck in him than he imagined because he'd swung the bow around, aimed and fired without the least bit of remorse. He saw a threat and he acted. That was what Buck was trying to teach everyone here. He still didn't feel bad for what he had done. He would do it again to a thousand other people to keep her safe. Keeping her alive was the only thing that mattered anymore. His own survival was critical to hers because without her and everything that she stood for in his mind, he was nothing.

Oscar was talking to a pissed off looking Merle at the table while Glen and Hershel hovered around the women who were watching Buck. Lori was still a bit of a mess but Daryl didn't blame her. He was actually surprised that the whole damn group wasn't falling all over one another, sobbing and blubbering out of their heads. He had to give them all props for that. They were keeping their cool for the most part.

"Merle, why don't you go on up and get Beth. She might need to see this." Buck said without looking up from the gun he was cleaning.

Merle shot Oscar one more cold look and then stood up. He stomped down the hall, clearly agitated that Oscar was still there. Daryl was leaning against the wall by the doorway leading to the hallway so he heard Merle when no one else did.

"Mother fuck!" Merle cried out.

Daryl darted down the hall and then stopped in his tracks, sliding on the hardwood and nearly landing on his ass. Merle was backed all the way up against the wall.

"Buck!" He yelled.

Tomas looked up from his feast of Andrews entrails and turned his head slightly on a malformed neck as his milky eyes regarded Daryl hungrily. His lips peeled away from his teeth, blood and chunks of flesh dripping from his chin. He rose slowly, those disgusting eyes locked on Daryl as he took one stumbling step towards him.

Daryl was nearly paralyzed. He had seen these things on the news but a part of him still hadn't believed what he was seeing. But this. This was very real and it was right in front of him. He heard a few gasps from the doorway as the others made there way to the foyer. Daryl raised the crossbow and aimed for the head but Buck's voice stopped him.

"Not yet." He said, right into Daryl's ear.

"What?" Daryl asked as he took a step back from the now advancing Tomas. Or what had been Tomas.

"Rick." Buck said. "You think you can handle this?"

Daryl risked a glance towards the doorway as Rick stepped forward.

"What do I do? Do I just shoot it right here in the foyer?" Rick asked, clearly unsure.

Buck crossed his arms and regarded the thing with disgust as Daryl took another step away from it. "Waste of ammo. We could stab it or we can bludgeon it. You choose."

"How? How is he walking around like that after you killed him?" Lori cried as Andrea pulled her back towards the kitchen. Carol followed them, looking pale and wide eyed again.

"Can you two hurry the fuck up and figure out what you wanna do with this thing!" Daryl nearly shouted as he dodge away from it. He saw how pale Carol looked as she turned to hurry back down the hallway. He didn't have time for their games. He brought up the crossbow and shot Tomas between the eyes. He dropped once more, this time dead for good. He hoped.

"Damn it, Daryl." Buck mumbled as Daryl walked past them.

Daryl ignored him and let the rest of them discuss what the hell that could have been. How Tomas had risen from the dead was the least of his worries for the moment. How many more hits could Carol take before it would be too much. He didn't know a whole lot but he did know that stress was a really bad thing. He knew that if things got too bad it could cause her to lose the baby. Some would probably consider that to be the best thing that could happen, considering. God help the mother fucker that ever decided to tell him that. It would be the last thing they would ever say.

He didn't find her in the den or the living room or the guest room, where Andrea was sitting with a sobbing Lori, or the kitchen. He knew she wasn't upstairs and after looking in the bathroom off the hall he was starting to feel panic well up in his gut. He threw open the back door, flicking on the porch light just long enough to see that she was, indeed sitting there on the top step. His first reaction was to tell her to get the fuck back in the house and stop acting stupid. But once she turned her head to face him and he saw the fear there his voice stuck and he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

"You shouldn't come out here by yourself." He said as he took a few steps towards her.

She turned back to face the dark backyard. The rain had stopped. She picked something up off her lap and held it up. It was the gun that Buck had been showing her. "I'm good." She said, her voice barely a whisper.

He started chewing his thumb nail as he gazed at her back. "You okay?" He asked after studying her rigid posture for a few long seconds.

Her head fell forwards and she shook it slowly. "I'm trying, ya know? I'm trying really hard to wrap my mind around what's happening. But it seems like everything is happening really fast." Her head snapped back up and he watched her shoulders rise and fall with a heavy breath. "But I guess that's just the way things are with you and me, huh?"

He finally mustered up the courage to approach her. He didn't want to look at her. He didn't want to see the fear on her face that he knew would be there. He sat down behind her, trapping her between his knees as he planted his boot clad feet on the top steps and wrapped his arms around her. He was relieved when she leaned into him, covering his hands with her own.

"You thinkin' maybe we shoulda dated before movin' in together? Maybe found out what each others favorite colors were before we started doin' it? Maybe knew each others middle names before we made a baby?" He snorted. "That's pussy talk, woman. That ain't how us Dixon's do things."

It worked. He heard her quiet laughter fill his ears, felt the gentle shake of her shoulders. Despite everything going on, he grinned into her shoulder.

"We're going to be fine." She whispered after a while but he wasn't sure if she was talking to him or to herself.

He nodded, making sure he kept his ears sharp for the sounds of anything, or anyone, approaching.

~H~

Merle took off up the stairs as soon as Rick and Buck started moving the bodies. That task hadn't really bothered him but he hadn't seen Beth since they had came down the stairs, right before Buck sent her back upstairs while he killed that guy.

She was lying on her back in the middle of the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She wasn't crying or freaking out, which is what he thought she would be doing. She seemed calm. Of course she missed out on the little show downstairs.

"How ya holdin' up?" He asked lamely as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

She rolled over onto her side, facing him. "What do you think is happenin'?" She asked, instead of answering his question.

He sighed. "Ain't got a clue." He laid down next to her and stared up at the ceiling like she had been doing before he came in and interrupted her. He relaxed a little when he felt her shuffle closer and lay her head on his chest.

"Did your daddy kill that man?" She whispered.

He wanted to tell her no because he wasn't sure how she would react to hearing the truth but he wasn't about to start lying to her. He huffed and then wrapped an arm around her. "Yeah, he did."

Beth just nodded.

He looked down at the top of her blonde head and frowned. "You alright with that?"

She looked up at him. "With everything that's been happenin', things ain't gonna be like they were even just yesterday. I don't want to have to kill anybody but I trust Buck. If anybody can keep us safe it's him."

"Ya gotta learn to keep yourself safe too." Merle said quickly.

"I want too. We're all gonna have to try to keep each other alive. Especially with Lori being pregnant. We really have to keep her safe."

Merle sighed. "Carol too."

Beth nodded solemnly. "Of course, Carol too. All of us."

Merle eyed her. "No, I mean Carol's pregnant too."

Beth drew her head back and blinked. "Really?" She smiled.

Merle nodded and grinned himself but it didn't last long. "Found out today. Even got to see pictures and shit. Ain't nothin' but a little blob now but I bet it'll take after me. I think that's one of the reason's Buck's not cuttin' anybody any slack. I ain't sayin' keepin' Lori safe ain't important cause it is and none of us would let anything happen to her if we can help it, but Carol's carryin' a Dixon. That's different."

Beth nodded. "I wanna learn. I need to learn to use them guns y'all got down there." She said fiercely as she crawled over him.

He stopped her before she could get far, holding onto her hips firmly.

"Merle, we ain't got time for any of that right now, I gotta learn to use them guns. I ain't gonna be another person y'all think you have to protect. I need to learn." She squirmed above him but he held on firmly.

"There's more." He said, catching her eye.

She stopped struggling and peered down at him. "What else? Don't tell me Maggie's pregnant too."

He shook his head. "Tomas, a little while after Buck killed him, he came back and..."

Beth's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "And what?" She whispered.

"He ate the other guy." Merle deadpanned.

Beth was quiet for a long time, holding his gaze. "We need to go through with your dads plan. We need to get our hands on a truck. We need to get supplies and stuff."

Merle nodded. He was exhausted but she was right. They had a lot that needed to be done. They were going to all sleep in shifts, but he didn't see any of them sleeping at all. Carol and his brother had gotten a little rest but that was it other than Lori who took over the guest room. They had a lot of planning to do. He was dreading listening to Rick and Buck argue over every damn thing Buck suggested but he had a feeling that that was exactly what they were going to have to deal with.

~H~

The next morning proved to be clear and sunny. It may as well have been a blizzard in the middle of the night. The sunshine and warmth did nothing to lift anybodies spirits. Buck was to the point now that the next person that he caught staring at him was gonna eat his fist for breakfast. He was pretty sure the only person that had it worse than him was Carol.

Merle and Daryl were both hovering around that poor girl. She couldn't even turn around without bumping into one of them. She kept her mouth shut but Buck could tell it was really pissing her off.

"Again." Beth said eagerly.

He looked away from where Carol was trying her best to cook breakfast with those two looming over her like she was about to faint. Beth's eyes were glued to the gun in his hands. The girl had been at it for hours. At first he was impressed by how eager she was to learn but now even she was getting on his damn nerves. He shoved the gun into her hands. "Take it apart. This one's yours. Learn it."

Beth nodded, eyes growing even more wide as she quickly dismantled the rifle. He could have given her an easier one but she seemed to be more drawn to the bigger pieces they had. Hershel was watching her with equal parts relief and worry in his eyes. Maggie was there too but she was less forceful and obviously more wary of him. She watched with her lips sealed, Glen at her side, and did everything the way he showed her.

Rick hadn't said a whole lot to him and he figured that was for the best. He understood Rick. He was a man of the law and he needed order in his life and wanted to take it upon himself to bring order to them all. Shane was a lawman himself but Shane understood things on a different level than Rick did. Being a good man was not a bad thing. Being a good man when the world was turning upside down was bound to get people hurt or worse. Buck couldn't risk that. If he needed to be a stone cold killer to protect his own then that's what he would do.

"I have a question." Andrea asked loudly. The low rumble of multiple conversations faded as everyone turned to look at her. "Do you guys remember that time that one raccoon caught rabies and then the next day almost every other animal had contracted it?" She asked.

Hershel shook his head and looked down at his feet.

"The hell you talkin' about?" Daryl asked. "That never happened."

She stared at Hershel. "Exactly. Do you understand now, Hershel? These people aren't sick. We aren't murdering here. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Rick." She gestured towards Rick who was still standing with Shane and now Lori. "You don't have to agree with anything Buck is doing. You don't have to think it's moral and you don't have to think it's right. But I'm done with this talk of him doing what he's doing just because he wants to. He isn't using this as an excuse to kill for fun. The next person that insinuates _that _needs to get the hell out of this house and try to survive this without him."

Buck watched her as she stormed out of the room and then he heard their bedroom door slam shut shortly after. The room was silent and it was getting even more tense. Buck didn't want anymore tension then there had to be.

"This much." He said gruffly, holding up his thumb and index finger so there was about two inches of space between them. "I'm usin' this craziness as an excuse to kill people because I like too, only this much. I'm mostly doin' it to keep y'alls dumb asses alive, though." He flashed a grin at Hershel as Carol, Merle and Daryl cracked up laughing. The tension was defused after that.

He glanced towards the doorway where Andrea disappeared. He hadn't told a soul, maybe never would. But the truth was, he loved that fucking woman. Whatever he had felt for Jenna couldn't hold a candle to what he felt for her. And he was alright with that. Especially now. Buck Dixon finally had something he never even knew existed. A woman that would stand with him no matter what. Accept him for the twisted man he was. He turned back to Beth and nodded. "Good girl." He winked, causing her to beam up at him as she hung the gun across her back.


	4. Chapter 4

**Morning! This chapter is for spygrrl99 who wanted to see more Daryl and Carol and since it was her Birthday yesterday I obliged. It turned into something dirtier than I intended so I hope you don't mind. I'm following my gut, remember? Haha. Anyway, this is also for HGRHfan35, who is a friend of mine that is working hard on another banner! She is the one that pretty much came up with our lovely Blue. Smart lady ;) Anyway, Thank you guys for reading. Have a great morning!**

Chapter Four

Blue slipped out the back door during one of their many trips to the garage. He didn't like outside anymore. It smelled all wrong. The hair raised along his spine and his short tail drooped, nearly dipping between his legs. He sniffed the air and then sneezed. It wasn't something he had ever smelled before. It was almost like the smell that came before a storm. A low whine escaped his throat and the big man looked down at him, muttering something that was meant to make him feel better but this time it didn't. Whatever it was that was causing that smell was bigger than even this man. The stink of decay caused him to sneeze once more. Danger. Every cell in his body was screaming for him to get his furry ass back in the house. The house didn't smell right anymore either. It smelled like fear. He would much rather smell fear than this though. But he had a job to do. He didn't want them outside by themselves. Not with the scary way things smelled out here.

He cocked his head, listening closely. There was something out there, coming closer, he could hear it's footsteps. The big man wasn't paying any attention anymore. He growled, causing the big man to look down at him and then follow his gaze towards the trees behind the garage. The big man's hand went to something at his side and Blue could see him pull something long and shiny out of something hooked to his belt, Blue knew what a belt was. He'd felt them plenty of times, among other things. The sun gleamed off the metal. The thing smelled like old blood. Very old blood. Human blood. The big man and this thing had been friends for a long time.

The big man walked towards the sound, even though Blue was sure he couldn't hear what was coming just yet. Humans didn't listen very well. He darted in front of the man, leading the way to the strange smell. The dead smell. The big man would help him keep the others safe. His family had to stay safe, Blue owed them that. He was an animal. He wasn't a dumb ass. They had saved him from that crazy old man that liked to take things away from Blue. Like his balls. Him and the big man would have a while to wait. The thing... things. Many things, were slow and still far away. But they were coming. Blue was sure of that.

~H~

Carol filled up another box and taped it shut. She had never even been to the back of the pantry before but she was excited what she found back there. Her grandma, or maybe her grandpa, had hoarded canned goods. There was a ton of it. It would come in handy once they left the house. Her eyes filled with tears at the thought as she grabbed another box and started stuffing it full of anything she could find that was canned or boxed like pastas and mac and cheese.

She didn't want to leave. She couldn't stand the thought of it at all. This was where she wanted to raise her child and now it wasn't even a possibility. She didn't know where they would go. Buck and Rick had been loading up the trucks all morning.

They had all been in the house for four days. Four whole days of wondering and waiting. They hadn't seen another living soul on the streets. The other houses were deserted. Even Glen's. She felt so sorry for him. His family had driven up north to visit relatives while he stayed behind with Maggie. He had no way of knowing if his mother or sisters were alright.

Buck had killed more of those things. They would show up in the yard or on the porch. Every time one would show up he would kill it swiftly and then he would drag the body to the back of the property. Rick killed too. Buck made sure that Rick had it in him and Rick had proved to be as good at it as any of them.

This morning the electricity had finally gone off. She sat the flashlight in the middle of the floor and leaned her back against the shelves. She was tired of hiding her tears. Swallowing her fear. Nodding along with everything the men decided. She had shut herself up in the pantry and she was alone, for a little while anyway. She could break down and cry if that's what she wanted to do. So she stopped fighting tears and let them fall. There was a lot. Hopefully no one would hunt her down...

Just then the door opened and she blinked as sunlight filled the pantry. She was ten feet away from the door so she was hoping that Daryl wouldn't see that she was crying. No such luck. She hadn't had a minute alone since him and Merle found out that she was pregnant. If it wasn't Daryl looming over her it was Merle or both of them. Buck watched her but he never invaded her space like his sons did. She knew they were worried about her. Like they didn't have enough to worry about. It was ridiculous.

"What are ya doin' in here with the damn door shut? We've been lookin' all over for you." He admonished as he looked down at her.

She wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her cheek against them. She was fine. Why couldn't they just leave her the hell alone? "I was just boxing up the food we can take. Is that okay? Should I start wearing a fucking bell so you and Merle can find me when I'm not right under your goddamn feet?"

She stood up then, ready to shove him out of her way so she could escape the confines of the pantry. She hated small spaces like this. She knew that her desperation to get out from under them was intense when she would lock herself up without a second thought.

He caught her by the arm and then reached behind him and pulled the door shut. "Stop. What the hell's wrong with you?" He asked. For some reason the calm tone of his voice was making her even more angry.

"If you and Merle don't leave me alone I swear to God, Daryl I'm gonna pack a bag and leave on my own. You're treating me like I'm some kinda idiot that's going to fall to pieces. I'm not. Okay? I'm scared. I'm upset that we have to leave but I'm alright with it. I've accepted it. What I can't stand anymore is you. You always being there. Every single time I turn around."

The flashlight was still on and still standing up in the middle of the room. The hurt that flashed across his face made her stomach hurt. Why had she said that to him? She had worded it all wrong. That wasn't what she meant but she could tell by the look in his eye and the silence that filled the room that she had hurt him pretty bad and he had taken every word that had come out of her mouth at face value. This caused a fresh wave of pain run through her and more tears to fill her eyes. She had covered her mouth with her hand once she realized what she had said.

"I didn't mean that. I..." She had no idea what was wrong with her. How could she say that to him? She choked back a sob. He was still just staring at her, probably not sure what to say now. "Please just say something." She whispered.

His hand went to the doorknob. "I'll go ahead and leave ya alone then. Just get somebody to go with ya if you need to go outside for somethin'." His voice was still level but she knew he was probably really feeling the sting of her words.

She grabbed his hand and then buried her face in his shirt. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that. You know I didn't mean that."

She felt his hand on the back of her head. He still didn't say anything though. She pulled her face away from his chest and then, with both hands, yanked his face down to hers, kissing him like she hadn't been able to kiss him in days. He grunted when she pressed herself against him even harder, pressing his back into the shelves that lined the walls.

The small room wasn't hot but she felt herself sweating slightly. She felt like she couldn't get close enough to him and she felt like if she didn't get closer she would surely lose her mind. She broke the kiss just long enough to tug his shirt up over over his head.

"What are you doin'?" He asked, breathlessly. "Anybody can open the damn door any minute."

She didn't care. She wanted him._ Needed_ him. Not like she usually did either. This was different because she knew he was right and didn't care. The whole damn group could watch if that's what they wanted to do but she needed him now. She wanted to forget the horrors that were going on outside the house and forget the people that were right outside the pantry. She needed every part of him and she needed him now. She pulled away once more and tore her own shirt away from her overheated body.

"Jesus, Carol. Wait a..."

She didn't want to hear it. She crushed his mouth with hers once more her tongue demanding against his, her teeth grazing his lip roughly.

He was trying to keep himself under control but he was losing the battle. One hand gripped her hip while the other trailed up her side until he worked it between them. She moved her body back just enough for his hand to get access to her breast. They were heavier than they had been even a few days ago and he must not have noticed that until now because he pulled his mouth away and looked down at her.

"How the hell did that happen?" He whispered, voice husky.

She shrugged and pulled his mouth to hers once more before her hands went to his pants, cupping him through the denim boldly causing his breath to explode from his lungs. He grabbed her hand and pulled it behind her.

"Wait. I got an idea." He said as he pushed her away gently. She watched him turn and then open the pantry door enough so he could stick his head out.

Carol wasn't sure what the hell he thought he was doing. She studied the muscles in his back and then felt another intense wave of heat wash over her. That was, until he opened his mouth.

"Beth?" He hissed. "Come here."

Was he serious? He was out of his mind! What the hell was he doing trying to get Beth in here with them? She was about to say something but he started talking again.

"Don't let anyone come in here alright? I'll owe you one." He whispered.

Oh. She should have known better than that. She heard herself laugh quietly as he shut the door and turned back around. "I thought you were inviting Beth to join in." She laughed again.

He scowled at her, all passion gone from his eyes for a second. "You're a real sick pervert, Carol. No more hangin' out with Merle. What the hell's gotten into you?"

She pulled him to her once more. "You." She muttered and then kissed him. Just like that the incident was forgotten as he backed her up, knocking the flashlight over as he backed her into the far wall. He was pushing her jeans down her legs on the way there and she struggled to get her feet free of them. Once she was finally free of them she turned around until her back was pressed against her chest. He was still in his pants but his hands were trailing back up, his lips on the side of her throat.

He brought his hands back down to her hips and tried to turn her back around but she put both hands on the wall and shook her head. "No. just like this." She whispered, unable to put any volume in her voice at all.

She heard him growl low in his throat and then move away from her for just a few seconds. He used one foot to push her legs further apart and then, after a few adjustments he was moving inside her, his breath exploding across the back of her neck. She reached behind her until her fingers were threaded through his hair.

This was what she needed. For now this was enough to bring her back to her own head and center her raging emotions, but it wasn't quite enough. As amazing as he felt she needed more. "Harder," She growled.

"What?" He choked, clearly caught off guard, he even broke rhythm.

"You heard me." She whispered.

"But what about..."

"Harder!" She growled louder.

"Jesus..." He muttered but obliged, kicking her legs further apart and gripping her hips roughly.

She braced her hands flat against the wall, pressing her sweaty cheek against the cool wood. Her body responded to him instantly, coiling around him. He had barely gotten started and she was already about to spiral away. She bit her lip and rode out the waves silently even though her eyes rolled back into her head and he had to wrap one strong arm around her to keep her from falling as her knees grew weak.

She wasn't even sure how it happened but somehow they ended up on the floor, her legs wrapped around him tightly as he fed her overwhelming need over and over again until he collapsed between her legs, keeping his weight off of her by bracing himself on his elbows as his head fell to the center of her chest. His hair was drenched, the small room suffocating. It took him a long time to catch his breath.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered as she pushed hair back out of his face. She had acted like an insane person. Making him feel like she didn't want him near her and then attacking him like a freak. He was probably ready to get away from her now. She was becoming psychotic.

He barked out a laugh in response, lifting his head. "For what?" He croaked. His voice was so horse she had to laugh a little with him.

"For treating you like that. I didn't mean it. I don't know what's wrong with me." She whispered as she ran her hands through his wet hair.

He raised up onto his arms and then brought his face down to hers. "It's alright. Payback is you walkin' out of this room all red faced and covered in sweat. You'll be too goddamn shamed to pull all that hurtful shit again." He grinned and then kissed her.

"Oh my God." She craned her neck to look towards the door. "How many people were out there?"

He shrugged and reached for his clothes. "Beth, Merle, Maggie, Glen... Hershel. Oh, and Shane,Oscar, Lori, Rick and Andrea."

"Oh my God." She hissed once more as she snatched her clothes from him. "This is awful."

He shrugged once more and started tying his boots. "I tried to tell ya."

"Shut up!" She growled as she tried to smooth her hair down.

He kissed her once more and then pulled her up by her hands, she took a deep breath, smoothed down her hair once more and then readied herself for her walk of shame. Damn hormones.

~H~

Buck followed Blue past the garage, past the patio and right towards the treeline behind the property where he had been dumping the bodies. He didn't see anything at first so he stopped and waited a while, trusting the dog. Blue's hackles were starting to rise and a low growl escaped his throat. The dog looked up at him, eyes wider than they should have been. When Buck glanced back towards the woods he saw them.

There were about ten of them emerging from the trees. He felt Blue press against his legs, growls mixed with fearful whines erupting from his mouth, lips curled back over his teeth as the things drew closer.

"Stay." Buck ordered as the things spotted him and started coming forward with more purpose. Blue looked up at him and Buck had the feeling that the dog was trying to tell him something. He felt stupid for even thinking something like that but then suddenly Blue took off, running right towards the group of walking dead.

"Oh fuck, Blue!" Buck barely got the words out of his mouth when the dog veered off, out of reach of the things groping hands and started barking furiously. Blue's eyes locked on Buck's for just a split second as the things started following the dog. The smell of fresh meat and Blues loud barking had the things side tracked.

"Holy shit, you smart little mother fucker." Buck whispered right before he took off running towards the things that now only had eyes for Blue. He was behind them as they pursued the barking dog and he disposed of them easily, running that razor sharp knife right through the back of their necks and up into the brain.

He didn't stand around to study his handy work either. Him and Blue took off towards the house at a run. When he barged into the back door the others were laughing about something but it died on their lips as soon as he slammed the door.

"What the hell happened?" Merle asked as he stood up.

Blue was standing next to him panting. "Just killed ten of those fuckers. Goddamn dog herded'em away so I could get every fuckin' one of'em from behind."

Andrea paled and then hurried over to him. "Did you get bitten or anything? Scratched maybe? Remember what we talked about yesterday. We don't know what they are so we have to be extra careful."

He shook his head, wrapping one arm around her and pulling her closer. "Nah, they didn't even see me comin'. I'm tellin' y'all. This goddamn dog probably saved my ass out there. He went right at'em." Buck shook his head and looked down at Blue once more. Now he was sitting on his furry ass scratching his ear. Buck had to laugh but it didn't last long.

"What now? We just about got everything packed into the trucks. Where do we go?" Lori asked from her spot next to Rick.

"We need a bigger truck. More supplies." Buck said as his eyes locked onto Rick's.

"We need a plan." Rick said calmly.

"For now, that is the plan." Buck deadpanned.

"So, we steal a truck and fill it up? That's the plan? Where do we go from there? I think it's smarter to stay here and think about it for a few more days." Rick said as he pulled Lori closer.

"We've been holed up in this fuckin' house for four days. It's time to go. There's more of those things comin and eventually there's gonna be too many to handle." Buck said, finality ringing in his voice.

Rick sighed and then threw his hands up in the air. "Your the boss, right?" He said in a low voice.

Buck wanted to punch the little bastard in the face but he took a steady breath as Andrea's hand flattened against his back. "I ain't tryin' to be nobodies boss Rick. I'm tryin' to keep us alive."

Rick seemed to lose all his fight then as he sank into one of the kitchen chairs. "I know." He said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Alright then, fuckers." Buck said in a loud voice. "Let's get the rest of our shit and get the fuck outta here." He glanced around. "Where the hell is Daryl and Carol?"

He looked from face to face and frowned as everyone seemed to be trying to contain their laughter. His frown turned into a grimace when Beth busted into a fit of giggles, causing the rest of them to lose all their composure. "Are y'all fuckin' serious? All this goin' on and them two are..."

"Nah," Merle interrupted him. "They ain't doin' nothin' anymore. Got it all out of their system in the pantry though. Shoulda seen how embarrassed Carol was when they finally came out. Funny shit you missed there, Buck."

Buck put a hand over his eyes and shook his head. What the fuck was he gonna do with that boy?


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about the delay. I'm having computer woe's so until that is fixed I may have to post every other day because I'll be using my little brothers computer. It's kind of the community computer around here so I have to get on it when it's free. I live in a house with six other people so that isn't always easy. **

**Anyway, I love this chapter. I really do. Hopefully you feel the same way. Some of you were worried about how weak this pregnancy was going to make the women, Carol especially. I think this may sooth your nerves a little. Thank grandpa Buck ;) Speaking of, when I saw the trailer for season 4... I kind of looked for Buck for about 20 seconds before I realized that he was a character in my head and not on the show. Some of you have admitted to doing the same thing. I felt better knowing I wasn't the only one. Haha**

**Hope you all enjoy! Thank you for reading =)**

Chapter Five

Daryl glared. "Man, I swear to Christ, you get so much as a scratch on my bike, I'm gonna kill you. I ain't even gonna do it fast either. I'm gonna take my time, you understand what I'm sayin' to you?"

Shane held up his hands, Daryl's bike rumbling quietly between his legs. "I already told you, Daryl. I'll ride in the Charger and you can have the bike. You knocked her up so you don't have a thing to worry about. She's all yours." Shane grinned.

"She's been mine this whole time you goddamn idiot." Daryl growled. "Just don't._ Do not_ let anything happen to this bike."

The sad truth was, he was real close to taking Shane up on his offer. If Carol hadn't been such a mess over leaving the house that had meant so much to her family he definitely would. But she needed him and he wasn't going to stick her with Merle, Beth and Shane. But damn, seeing Shane on his bike was close to having the man's hands on his woman. Close. But not _as _bad. Not quite. The thought of Shane on his bike made him nauseous but thinking of him being the one to comfort Carol had him seeing red. So there the bastard sat. On _his_ bike. Grinning like the dick head he was.

Hell Daryl had been lucky he had even noticed that Buck and Merle were just going to leave it in the damn garage. He'd came out and happened to look up at Rick's truck and there sat Merle and Buck's bikes, surrounded by bags of guns. His own truck was stacked full of boxes of food and clothes and blankets. And just his luck the only person willing to ride was Shane fucking Walsh. And, man, was the bastard enjoying himself.

With one last deadly look he walked away from Shane and the one thing that had been Daryl's and only Daryl's before there ever was Carol or a baby or even a real relationship with his dad and brother. That bike had been his pride and joy. And now it sat there idle between that asshole's legs. He forced himself to unclench his teeth.

So it was with a heavy heart he made his way towards Carol. She had put on a brave face for the rest of the morning after there little... spat... in the pantry. But the closer all the vehicles got to being packed up and the time for leaving was growing closer and closer that brave act started to crumble. She was losing her home and was about to enter a very scary and unknown world. Buck was there, looking miserable because she was miserable. Her face was buried in the crook of his neck as he leaned against Rick's truck with his arms wrapped around her, not really knowing what to do to make her feel better about all of this. Sometimes Daryl still couldn't believe the way Buck was now. Especially with her.

"Baby girl, we gotta go." He said into her hair, just loud enough for her and Daryl to hear.

Her response was a sob.

"Honey, you're gonna get me covered in snot." He muttered as he rubbed her back. "I can feel it seepin' into my goddamn shirt."

"It isn't snot." She hiccuped. "It's tears."

"I'm gonna have boogers on my clothes and I don't know how long we'll be drivin'. You want me to have to run around like that?"

Her body shook and Daryl almost sagged in relief when he realized she was laughing. He couldn't help but laugh himself. Picturing Buck trying to be a bad ass with Carol's snot on his shirt. That was comedic genius. "You're so disgusting." She wailed but she was still laughing.

She finally pulled her face out of hiding and looked up at Buck. He leaned down so his forehead was pressed against hers and his hands were cupping her face.

"Stiffen up that lip, girl. Who's to say we wont come back someday, alright? Ya gotta toughen up. No more crybabyin'." He said softly. He reached behind him and grabbed her gun, adjusting the strap so it fit her just right.

She nodded, taking a deep breath before Buck turned her around and gave her a gentle shove towards Daryl. Her eyes were red rimmed and puffy but still determined as she lifted her chin. She blinked back more tears and bit her lip when his eyes met hers. "Let's go." She said bravely as she took his hand and marched towards the car.

"Everybody armed?" Buck called.

Daryl glanced up and saw that everyone else were strapping on guns. He had one in the car but he had the crossbow strapped to his back. Even Lori was handed a gun. They were about as ready as they were ever going to be. Daryl slid into the backseat next to her. His bow in his lap and a sub machine gun in hers. How fucked up was this picture? Beth had fallen in love with an AK47 that she insisted on naming Ashley the AK. Every spare moment the girl had she was taking it apart and then putting it back together.

"Buck told me to learn it. He said this was mine and I needed to know it inside and out." Beth had told him when Daryl had finally asked her what the fuck she was doing. He switched it out with another, identical gun, when she had left the room. When she came back she had instantly known somehow and had been furious. Somehow she had even known he was the culprit. He gave it back when she threatened to tell Buck. Fucking girls.

Merle drove the car, keeping close to Shane who was on the bike in front of them. Daryl watched the asshole closely, making sure he wasn't messing up his bike somehow. Buck was driving Shane's Jeep behind them with Andrea at his side, of course, and Glen, Maggie and Dale in the back. Oscar drove Daryl's truck with Hershel riding shotgun, and then Rick and Lori brought up the rear with Blue riding between them.

The plan was to stop at the sporting goods store and hope to hell it hadn't been picked clean. If it hadn't then they were going to pick the place clean themselves. Buck was still hell bent on stealing a box truck to pack up. They could store Daryl's bike on that and then he could get Shane off of it.

The streets were empty. It was one of the weirdest things Daryl had ever seen. He expected tumbleweeds to drift across the street. They drove slower than normal, taking in everything. Every now and then Daryl would glance over at Carol but she looked fine.

"Remember what Buck told us?" He whispered.

She nodded without looking at him. "If I see a threat, kill it." She said, her voice strong. "Thinking about it will only get myself killed. do or die, right?"

Beth glanced back and smiled that shy smile of hers, her eyes as wide as Carol's. Carol smiled back and Beth turned back around. Daryl could swear that the girl couldn't wait to unleash hell out there. Beth looked more like the type that would still have posters of unicorns and kittens on her walls. Buck had a way of gearing people up though. He knew how to manipulate people's fear and turn it into blood lust. Daryl had been watching him do that for days. He was pretty sure that was why Buck had waited to leave as long as he did. He wanted to make sure that in a pinch, these people could kill.

When they drove into the actual town it was even more creepy. Some places were already boarded up and there didn't seem to be a soul around. So far they didn't see any of the walking dead. Just a ghost town. The sporting goods store was on the opposite side of town and Shane creeped along at a snails pace as he searched from one side of the street to the other. It was like Shane was expecting to find at least a small sight of normalcy.

Although everything was silent and still, Daryl felt a strange sense of unease settle over him. It wasn't just the creepiness of the empty town, a town he had grown up in, it was something else. Something deeper than that. He didn't realize he had twined his fingers through Carol's until he felt her grip tighten on his. They pulled into the stores parking lot, everyone lined up next to one another. Buck was the first one out.

When they all gathered outside the store they were silent at first. Glancing around nervously Daryl could tell right away that he wasn't the only one that felt that strange feeling in his gut. The hairs on his arms were standing on end.

"We move fast, y'all understand?" Buck said in a loud whisper. "You grab anything you think we'll need. Keep your ears open. Remember that we need more weapons that wont be as loud. Blues barkin' had them things in a frenzy and that means they are drawn to sound. Grab tents, sleepin' bags, lanterns, any first aid supplies."

Everyone nodded.

He looked from one face to another. "Andrea, Dale, Oscar. You three go with me to the furniture store down the street. They got trucks there." He looked up. "Rick, you alright with that, now that you see for yourself what it's like out here?"

Rick blew out a breath and then nodded, keeping Lori close. "I get it. Survival, right?"

Buck gave him a nod. "The only law around here, boy. Keepin' our people alive." With that he turned and stalked off with Andrea, Dale and Oscar with Blue on their heels. No one even bothered to leash the dog anymore.

The others filed into the store, keeping quiet and watchful as they grabbed duffel bags to fill. Daryl didn't hover over her. After the crazy way she had acted that morning he was half scared to even talk to her. That didn't mean he was going to let her get to far ahead of him. He never let her get more then ten feet away. Everything was going smoothly until the door to the back storage area creaked open.

His head turned sharply. The closest person to that door was Carol and he knew none of their people had gone back there into the storage area. He also knew not to use a gun in the store. To his horror Carol turned towards the sound, blocking his view but not before he saw who it was. Or, more accurately, who it had been.

Andy had ran the sporting goods store for as long as Daryl could remember. He was a good hearted old man, with a ready smile. It looked like he still had that smile plastered across his mottled face as he took a few steps closer to Carol, who was now only a foot away from the thing at most. The next closest person to her other than Daryl himself was Shane, who raised his gun. But he never had a chance to fire a shot. From Daryl's angle it looked as though Carol backhanded Andy's corpse. The thing dropped to the ground and Carol stood over it breathing heavily.

All of this, from the time the door creaked open to the time it took the dead Andy to hit the floor, happened in seconds. No one had time to react. When he got to her he pulled her away from the thing and spun her around. Her eyes were wide. He looked down at Andy who now, not only sported an ugly bite mark to his cheek, had a large gash in the side of his head.

"What the fuck?" He choked as he checked her over again. That's when he saw it. She had been filling her bag with the weapons Buck had asked them to get. She had a death grip on a hand ax that was now dripping with blackened blood.

"Kill. Don't think." She breathed.

The others finally made it to her, panic written all over their faces. Daryl felt light headed. He could have lost her on their first day out of the house. She put her free hand against his cheek and he finally gained enough composure to pull her to him.

"Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

He pulled away from her and looked her in the eye like she was insane. Was she really asking him that after what almost happened? "Not again, you hear me? I don't give a shit if you want your space and you don't want me hoverin'. You don't leave my goddamn side again." He growled.

She nodded and then looked down at the thing on the ground and then to the hatchet in her hand before turning back to the shelf she had been working on before that door opened up. He stayed glued to her side for the rest of the time they were in the store and eventually his truck was so loaded down that it wouldn't fit anymore.

~H~

Buck pulled up in front of the pharmacy in one of the moving trucks they had scored. Oscar was driving the other one. The glass in the door was busted out but Buck expected that. Hell, whoever did it was probably one of Merle's old friends. Leave it to that bunch to think of free prescription drugs while the world is falling apart around their heads.

When he looked down, two blocks away, he saw the others coming out of the sporting goods store. Merle waved, Buck waved back. His eyes scanned the area further down and his blood ran cold.

"Oh my God." Andrea gasped when she realized what he was seeing.

They crested a hill about a block away from where the others were, coming towards them fast. It looked like a whole herd of the dead. The others didn't even notice them yet. Buck took off at a dead run towards the sporting goods store, his hands gripping the gun so hard that he had to loosen his grip for fear of crushing the thing under his fingers. He could hear the others behind him but his long legs covered much more ground, Oscar was the only one that had a chance of catching up with him.

Finally Daryl looked behind him, the things were a half a block away from them now. He heard Lori scream, freezing his blood even more as he desperately tried to reach them. Daryl grabbed Carol by the hand and started running towards Buck, the others following closely.

"The fuck do we do, Buck?" Shane yelled when they finally reached him.

"There's already a hundred of them. It's like everyone from town is one of them things now." Beth cried, eyes wide.

It was true. Buck studied the mass that was coming towards them. They couldn't get to the cars and there was nowhere to hide. "Line up." He barked. "Now!"

A block away. They were only a block away. Lori was sobbing but when he glanced at Carol she already had her gun raised. He went to Lori, talking in a low voice.

"You raise that gun and you fire when I tell you to fire." He said in a harsh tone.

She looked up at him like she was barely registering what he was saying. He looked over his shoulder. Half a block.

"You want that baby to die today? You want them things to rip it out of your body and feast on it before you even take your last breath?"

She shook her head.

"Aim that fuckin' gun Lori! Head shots. You take down as many as you can or you can kiss motherhood goodbye!" He roared in her face. He stomped away from her, glancing up again. They had formed a loose line across the middle of the street. He took up position between Carol and Beth.

"Lets do this!" He yelled.

The gunfire in his ears was deafening, bodies started dropping like flies, the smell of gunpowder filled his nostrils. Over and over the bodies fell and not one of his people hesitated. He spared one look down the line and saw Lori, taking down her share with a new cold look on her face. They were like a machine now, working together to take out the threat. Not sparing a thought as to who they were killing, so long as they dropped. Adrenalin was pumping through his blood as the noise and the smell of hot steel seemed to fill the air around them. He knew it shouldn't but it brought a sick smile to his face. He'd turn everyone of these people into the killing machines they needed to be, and he'd enjoy every goddamn second of it. It seemed to be over before it even really got started and then just like that, silence.

~H~

Carol looked at the mass of bodies in front of them with a detached feeling in her chest. She should have been sick. She should have been terrified. She should have been a lot of things. But she was fine. All those things Buck had spit in Lori's face didn't just pertain to Lori. She had her own baby to protect. After he had said that to Lori all her own fears melted away. The only thing she felt after that was a fierce urge to protect her child at all costs. So she had aimed and she had fired and because she was able to do that, her baby was fine. It would make it through another day, just like the rest of them. What Buck had said to Lori had been cruel. But he was telling her what needed to be said so cruel or not, they were also true. Lori had to fight for her baby just like Carol had to fight for her own. These bastards weren't going to touch this kid. She would rip their heads off with her bare hands before she let that happen.

She dropped her gun and then adjusted it so it was nestled against her back. Buck stepped forward and turned around to face them all. Everyone dropped their guns then and waited for him to speak. She spared Lori a glance. She was dry eyed and waiting for Buck to say something just like the rest of them were. Carol realized then exactly what they were all going to become. Lori's gaze was as cold as steel but it wasn't directed towards Buck. Everyone looked like that. Lori understood, just like Carol did. They couldn't be cowering, pregnant burdens that their people had to protect. They had to be warriors.

Lori turned her head like she had felt Carol's eyes on her. She nodded and so many messages were conveyed to Carol through that one look that it gave her an overwhelming sense of pride. Her and Lori Grimes weren't going to face this new world cowering behind their men. They both had something else that was pushing them to survive. Buck may very well have been the brains and the muscle behind this new group of soldiers but Carol believed with all her heart that the most dangerous people, out of all of them, were the two with the most to lose. Carol and Lori were going to make this new world their own.

Lori narrowed her eyes and then smiled. She knew it too.

"Y'all got some goddamn balls, I'll tell ya that." Buck said with a shake of his head. "I never believed y'all could do it."

"What now?" Daryl asked as he slipped his hand into hers.

Buck locked eyes with him and smiled. "Now we get the fuck outta here."


	6. Chapter 6

**Good morning! Here is your extra late chapter. I'm not happy with it but that never means much. Hope you enjoy. I'm going to go work on a one shot now. Hopefully I'll finish it before bed and you'll have something else to read! Thanks for reading and have a great day! =)**

Chapter Six

Merle pulled the car over and cursed. There didn't seem to be any way out of the county. Buck had been right. There was road blocks everywhere. Cars just sitting, mostly empty. This was the fourth block they had hit. Some of the cars from other jams they had hit still had people in them but they weren't alive. They weren't up and walking around dead either so that was a good thing but seeing so many like that was a little bit creepy, even for him. The only person that seemed to be unfazed by it was Buck, of course.

"Are we even gonna be able to get outta here at all?" Beth asked from the passenger side.

He glanced over and then back up at the wall of cars in front of them. "What do you think, little brother?" He asked as he caught Daryl's eye in the mirror.

Daryl shrugged and then shook Carol's shoulder. She had been dozing off with her head in Daryl's lap off and on ever since they had left town. Merle couldn't help but be worried about her but she had seemed to be fine after they had killed those walkers. That was the term they were using for them now. He had waited for Beth to have herself some sort of breakdown also but it never came. No one seemed to be on the brink of a mental collapse so that was a good thing too.

The four of them filed out of the car and waited for the others to come around to meet them. He felt Beth press against his side and his arm went around her absently while he waited. He couldn't believe she wasn't a sobbing mess over all of this. She was a lot stronger than he had given her credit for. Not just her but the other women too. He had expected to have to play protector and by the looks of things, that wasn't going to be the case at all.

Buck made his way towards them, anger clear in his features. The rest of the group followed. Rick had been pretty shocked when they had hit the first road block and he realized that had he left the night he had wanted too, him and Lori very well could be just like the bodies of some of the people in the cars. Or worse, be one of the walkers that the others had most likely turned into. Merle had seen the shock on the cops face and the look he shared with his wife. Reality, sometimes, was a hard thing to face. It was a good thing Merle didn't have much of a problem with reality anymore and wouldn't likely have a problem with it ever again. This wasn't the kind of world you wanted to live in unless you had all your wits about you.

Beth walked off to talk with Carol and her sister while the men gathered, saying nothing for a while, just looking out at the river of unmoving cars.

Buck sighed. "I think I have an idea. We need to go back to town. I don't see any way outta here. We'll have to make due with what we got."

"It's a good thing we got plenty then." Shane mumbled as his eyes followed Buck's.

Just before everyone gathered back in their vehicles Blue ran out from between the women who were talking and disappeared between the cars.

"Blue!" Buck yelled as the dog hightailed it away from the group. "Goddamn it." He cursed as he took off after him.

Merle grabbed Buck by the arm. "You don't know what the fuck is out there." He said as he glanced back towards the cars nervously. "If you go after him then we all need to go after him. We're losin' light as it is.

Buck just nodded and continued on. Motioning with his arm for the others to follow. They all began picking their way past the abandoned vehicles. Every now and then they would call out for Blue in hushed voices.

Everyone stayed pretty close together. Beth looked like she had a death grip on her gun, eyes hard and watchful. He had to admit that seeing her like that was hot as hell. He never thought she would have it in her. She was always so quiet and shy and now she looked like she could take down an army and not blink. Hell, they pretty much had already back in town.

They heard the sound of Blue's barking from up ahead and everyone picked up their pace. That dog was going to have every walker in the county coming down on them if he didn't shut his fool mouth. He appeared out of nowhere on top of the hood of a car about thirty yards away. When he saw that they were coming he shut his trap and sat down, waiting patiently. Merle was learning pretty fast that Blue rarely did anything without a reason. He would have bet his rifle that there was someone in that car.

They all slowed down once they were a few feet away from the car, approaching it cautiously and scanning ahead of them for any signs of walkers. So far so good.

He was the first one to the car, Daryl, Beth and Carol close on his heals. The windows were covered in filth so it was hard to see if anyone was in there. Merle gripped the handle, While Daryl stood with his bow aimed right at whoever may be inside. When Merle flung the door open Daryl tensed and Beth and Carol brought up their own guns.

Blue snorted.

A high pitched screech came from the inside of the car and then Daryl instantly brought the bow down, only barely covering up a laugh.

"Milton!" Carol cried as she adjusted the gun so it was strapped to her back once more.

Daryl and Merle shared a look. They both knew they would be in trouble if either of them made fun of the man for screaming like a girl so they just had to swallow down their laughter.

When Merle peeked into the open door Milton was pressed up against the seat, there was blood all over the car and instantly Merle lost the urge to laugh. Milton looked terrified but he didn't look hurt. They had all decided that if one of them found themselves bitten then the rest would keep an eye on them to see if something happened. A lot of the things they had killed that day didn't seem to have any wounds other than bite marks on them. They assumed that if one of them bit you then you would turn into one. But they hadn't seen anyone be bitten yet.

"You get bit?" Merle asked as Milton cowered further into the door. He was obviously in shock.

Merle stuck his head in the car and examined him. Other than the blood that he had gotten on his clothes from the blood in the seats it didn't look like he was bleeding but that didn't mean anything.

"I...I saw them. It was horrible. You'll never believe it." Milton stammered.

"Come on outta there boy. You're safe. Ain't nobody gonna let nothin' eat'cha." Buck said as he looked in at the terrified man.

Milton pushed his glasses up on his nose and peered at Buck. Buck gave him a nod and then Milton was scooting towards the open door. "Yes, of course." He muttered quietly as he got out of the car and faced the group.

Carol took a step closer but Daryl pulled her back by the arm and then, to Merle's amazement, aimed the bow right at Milton's head. "You didn't answer the question. Did one of those things bite you? Maybe scratch you?" Daryl growled.

Carol grabbed his arm but he wouldn't lower the weapon.

"N-no. I haven't been bitten. I hid under the car. I could hear them though. I could hear the other people. I-it was horrifying. What are they?"

Daryl lowered the bow and took a step back. Carol gave him a dirty look and stormed past, hugging the poor man tightly.

Milton's eyes were huge as he looked from face to face. "You all survived." It wasn't a question. "Of course you did."

Merle looked up at Blue who was still sitting on top of the car, tongue lolled out to the side as he watched Andrea and Buck lead Milton towards the cars. He hadn't believed Buck's story about Blue leading the walkers away until now.

He really was that damn smart. He'd pretty much just saved Milton Mamet's life.

~H~

Daryl walked behind the others, Carol at his side. He studied Milton carefully. He was dazed but didn't seem to be injured. Daryl knew that she was pissed about what he had done. He could feel it in the tense way she moved beside him. But for the first time, he didn't give a shit. Not one. He wasn't taking chances anymore. He didn't have one reason to give anyone the benefit of the doubt and if Milton had been bitten then Daryl wouldn't have hesitated to put a bolt in his brain.

"You scared him to death." She hissed at his side.

Yep. She was pissed. He slid his eyes over quickly to assess the damage. She'd been madder at him than this so it wasn't like this was going to be something he wasn't used too. "He coulda been bit." He said simply.

She stomped around in front of him and stopped, glaring. "And then what? You would just up and shoot him in the head? That isn't you."

"It is now." He growled.

"You would shoot a living man?" She asked, putting her hand to his chest to stop him from walking past her.

He narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. She just stared at him, waiting. They were almost to the cars now, everyone was watching them, waiting for them to get their asses in gear.

"Daryl, we don't know if bites make people turn." She said in a much softer tone,

He didn't want to fight with her so he was glad she was the first one to soften up a little. He wasn't going to. "We don't know if they don't either. I ain't riskin' it." He pushed some stray hair behind her ear.

"That's murder." she said in a matter of fact tone. "Do you want your kid thinking that way? Shoot first, ask questions later?"

She was trying to low blow him. It would have worked a week ago. Today was a new day though. "That's exactly what my kid is gonna learn. I'm gonna make sure of it."

She scowled but didn't say anything else when he grabbed her hand and ushered her to the car. Buck was standing there, looking like he was deep in though.

"We go on back to town. I have an idea." Buck said as he stared past them towards the cars once more.

"What's your idea?" Beth asked suddenly.

He shook his head. "Everyone needs to park in front of the pharmacy. We'll talk about it when we get there."

We're losin' light, Buck." Merle said before he got in.

Buck rolled his eyes. "No shit. Just meet in front of the pharmacy. I'll tell the others." He loped off towards the truck he had stolen that was now laden down with supplies and food. They had unloaded everything off of Daryl's truck and filled up the moving truck. Daryl felt a lot better once his bike was away from Shane.

The ride back to town was mostly quiet as they all scanned the land on either side of the road. It was hard to believe all of this had happened in less than a week but then again, Daryl assumed something like this wouldn't take too long to get out of control. If the dead actually came back to life then it wouldn't take too long for the whole damn country to get overrun.

They all lined up outside of the pharmacy and waited for Buck. From the looks on his and Andrea's faces they had been arguing, which was strange because they never argued anymore.

Milton came around, talking softly with Hershel and Dale. He seemed to be much more calm until he looked down the street and saw the bodies. Daryl was surprised he hadn't commented on the smell yet. The town reeked of those damn things. "Oh my God." Milton swallowed and took a step back. "What happened here?"

Buck shrugged, he had been about to address the group when Milton had spoken up. "We happened here." He deadpanned. He opened his mouth to address the crowd again and then huffed when Milton interrupted once more.

"You? This group of people killed all of those things?" Milton breathed, suddenly leaning into Hershel for support.

Buck put his hands on his hips. "Yep. We killed those things. Now..."

"How did you kill them? I saw them. They can't be killed. I saw people fighting them off and..."

"Jesus! Shut the hell up! You want them dead, you shoot'em in the goddamn head. We're all staying here." Buck said in a rush before Milton could interrupt him again.

He finally had the attention of the entire group. But he wasn't the next person to speak. Thankfully, neither was Milton.

Andrea held up her hands as soon as several mouths opened to speak at once. "Look, I don't like it either. I think it's dangerous. But I also know that we would probably all be dead by now if it wasn't for these three men. Rick," She eyed him since he seemed to be the one about to explode, "remember what your plans were that first night? You were going to take Lori and leave. The two of you would be dead right now if you hadn't listened to Buck. Just hear him out before you open your mouths. If I had too then so do you."

Buck's lips twitched but he kept his composure. Everyone watched him expectantly. "We seal off the town. Set up watches and make ourselves at home for now. We can't get out so it's the only option."

Everyone looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"If we aren't leaving then why can't we go back home. There's plenty of room." Carol said, a hint of hope in her voice. Daryl knew she was mad at him but he risked putting an arm around her. To his surprise she leaned into him.

Buck shook his head. "Not _enough_ room, darlin'. You think Milton here is the only one out there? People need help out there. We can't fill the house up with people."

Rick finally spoke up. "So you wanna block off the whole damn town? How are we suppose to do that?"

Buck gave him a level look. "It ain't gonna happen in a day. It's gonna take time. And I ain't stupid, Rick. We can't block off a whole town. But we have about three blocks of buildings on either side of the street that are either connected or separated by nothing but an ally. That's three blocks that wont take too long to block off. You think our ammo is gonna last forever? We gotta think long term. We can do this."

"We can." Beth said suddenly. She looked towards the bodies. "We can burn those and then block off from here down so we wont have to look at them."

Buck gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Good girl." he grinned.

"Wait a minute. This town isn't ours to take. We can't just start claiming things for ourselves." Milton argued.

Shane gave him an exasperated look. "Come on, man. Are you serious? You ain't seen the guns we got. Somebody comes around and tries to take it there gonna get their..."

"Shane!" Lori hissed as she stared at him with wide eyes. "We aren't going to start running around killing people."

Rick nodded. "She's right. That don't sit well with me. I agree with you about the town but we can't just start murdering."

Dale and Hershel nodded in agreement, as did Milton, Glen and Maggie.

Oscar crossed his arms over his chest. "So you're tellin' me that a group of assholes come here to take what's ours, we give it to'em? Y'all are out of your goddamn minds!"

Beth, Carol, Andrea, Merle, Shane and Daryl all seemed to be on Oscars side for this one.

Rick shook his head. "That isn't what I meant. But if people come here for protection I don't see any reason we shouldn't offer them sanctuary from those things. We're still people. We still have to have compassion. No matter what's happening around us. Even Buck said as much."

Shane snorted. "And what if a small group shows up here wantin' to make themselves a little life with us, but on down the road a ways they got their own group waiting in the wings to come take this place. You think our women would be safe? You think our _children_ would be safe? Use your fuckin' head Rick. Buck's right. The world ain't what it was and all a bunch of compassion is gonna get us is killed."

Dale shook his head. "You can't really be considering killing off people that come here." He looked at Buck, as did the rest of the group.

Daryl had pretty much been watching the back and forth. This wasn't a good thing. There was already starting to be a divide in their ranks. If they were going to survive then they couldn't have a bunch of internal strife. He liked the idea of making their own sanctuary right away. It was a good idea to him. They all seen what kind of shit happened to the people on the roads. They couldn't risk that. Not now. He suddenly had an idea.

"Blue." Daryl said out loud.

Buck looked at him questioningly. "Blue?"

Daryl nodded. "He's a smart little fucker. Ask Hershel how he acted around Jim. And there was somethin' up with that Mayor too. You saw how he acted. He lead those things off so you could kill'em and then he found Milton. I say, if Blue has a problem with somebody that shows up then... maybe we _should _kill'em."

"That's the craziest thing I've ever heard." Maggie said angrily. "Let a dog decide whether or not we kill someone?" She scoffed.

Daryl just shrugged. "That's the only plan I got. Y'all can do whatever the hell you want."

Buck sighed loudly. "Let's just find ourselves somewhere to stay for tonight and tomorrow we can get started.

No one argued with him about that idea. Everyone was tired and they still had to secure the building they decided to stay in. It was going to be a long couple of days since the tension in the air was already thick. He hated to admit it but he did agree with Shane. He understood where Rick was coming from but they had too much to lose to think like that. One time is all it would take. One time to trust the wrong person and they could all pay the price for it. And the price was a hefty one.

After boarding up what few downstairs windows there were they opted on sleeping in the furniture store. It made the most sense because there were enough places for everyone to sleep. They ate out of cans but that wasn't so bad. Everyone was so hungry that it didn't seem to bother them. Him and Carol chose one of the closed off storage rooms on the third floor. There were mattresses and box springs stacked against the wall so all he had to do was knock a few of them over.

"Do you really think we'll be able to do this?" Carol asked as she rolled over onto her back.

He rolled over to face her and then slipped his hand up the front of her shirt, tracing patterns against her still flat stomach. He didn't answer her right away. He wasn't sure himself if any of this would work, but he had to have faith that it would.

"I think we got a fightin' chance of makin' it work." He whispered. "We got more of a chance than a whole lot of others out there." he laid his hand flat against her stomach and wondered how the hell he was going to keep her safe. He was dead tired and when he was dead tired it never failed that his mind drudged up images of those things.

Her voice was so low he barely heard it. "I heard Lori and Andrea talking about Hershel delivering Lori's baby when the time came. Do you think he can really do it? I mean, I know I'm gonna feel like a cow but I'm not _actually_ a cow. He's never delivered a baby before. Not a human."

He had thought about that himself. Actually, that thought was another one that kept him from sleep. "I think Hershel'd do just fine."

He was almost asleep when he heard her tired whisper once more. "I can't believe you're letting the dog tell who and who not to kill."

He didn't respond to that and she didn't say anything else. He was glad that night that his dreams weren't filled with monsters and death. Instead he dreamed that Blue could talk and he beat them all at poker. This was one of those lucid dreams where he knew, even while dreaming it, he wasn't going to tell anyone about it.

Outside a group of men waited in the shadows, angrily biding their time as the big man stood guard with his woman outside the doors to the furniture store.


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't care much for this chapter. I swear I feel that way about most chapters now days. Anyway, I hope you all like it, at least. Good news, my friends. I caught a troll! I was so excited. LOL! I hope I managed to make them feel ashamed of themselves. I figured I should make them look at stupid as they actually are because maybe that will save them from hitting one of you. So, here is your chapter. Enjoy! Thank you all for reading, even though the troll thinks that this and S and S are painful to read, implausible, cheesey, repetitive, sexist AU's. They were kind enough to favorite and follow the one shot though, about 30 seconds before they left that lovely guest review. Smart move ;) **

Chapter Seven

It took three weeks. Three whole weeks before they were able to secure the little town that they had found abandoned. One would think a man would be able to relax. Hell, God himself took a day off. But not Theodore Douglas. Nope. Now he had to stand on top of a damn wall and keep watch. He was starting think he would have been better off securing his own house and waiting out the storm of demons that were pressing down on them. But that wasn't him. He had gotten right in his church van and picked up every soul he seen that needed picked up. There had been plenty that had been trying to escape. His van had been stuffed with people.

Unfortunately, they had hit a snag right outside of this little town. A town called Woodbury, according to the sign. His small group of survivors met up with other small groups of survivors and then all of those survivors had ran into the Mayor of Pineville. The very town that T-dog and the others had fled from days before. Philip was a smart man, he had to give him that. He had organized the group and then put them to work. He worked right alongside them until the town was secure and none of those things were going to get in easily.

"How is it goin' up there?" Philip asked from the street below.

T-dog looked down at him and returned the smile. "Looks about the same. Seems like those things can smell us. They just keep comin'."

Philip heaved a sigh. "Well, I was talkin' with a few of the locals and they tell me that there's an armory nearby. I think I'm going to gather some of the men and see what we can get, as long as the place is abandoned, that is. If not then maybe we can get some military assistance."

T-dog nodded. "Guns would be nice. What we do have wouldn't put a dent in that mess out there." He said quietly as he gazed out at the sea of biters. They weren't in a frenzy anymore. There even seemed to be less than he had seen that morning. He wasn't sure if they were giving up or maybe they were dying. Could the dead starve to death? He didn't know. It seemed pretty unlikely. Then again if someone would have came to him a few weeks ago and told him the dead would be walking around to begin with he would have called them insane.

"We'll let you know what we find. I'll send someone up to keep an eye on things with you until it's time to change shifts." Philip said.

T-dog nodded, not turning around to look at the man anymore, gun held tightly in his right hand. H wasn't sure how much time had passed before he heard someone coming up the wall behind him. He didn't turn, assuming it would be Martinez. When whoever it was was finally on top he knew it wasn't him. They were too quiet to be him. Martinez was a talker. Much like T-dog had been but the last few weeks had him a little quieter, more thoughtful.

"Any changes?" A husky female voice asked from behind him.

He turned and saw Michonne staring out at the biters, expression grim, sword strapped to her back. She had told him before that she had taken it from her own collection when she had fled her home. She was one of the people he had picked up on the road that day. He found her on foot, walking down the middle of the road with the bloody sward in her hand. She'd damn near scared the hell out of him. He almost didn't even stop to pick her up but he remembered her from the Dixon's cookout.

"Not really." He said in response to her question. "They seemed to have thinned out a little and they've calmed down a lot."

She ducked her head in a tight nod. "I'm thinking about leaving." She said suddenly, her eyes never leaving the swarm below them.

He frowned. "Leavin'?" He asked, disbelief coating his words. "What kind of sense would that make? We just barely made this place safe."

Her eyes flicked towards him and then back towards the biters, her brow creased with what looked like worry. "I don't trust him." She said in a flat tone.

"Who?" He asked.

"Philip. I don't trust the guy. It's just a... I don't know. It's just a feelin'."

He scoffed. "You're serious, aren't you? You know, it's just in your nature to be suspicious of people. It'll pass. No reason to go out there and get yourself killed just for a feelin'."

"Yes, I am serious. And it's in your nature to be too trusting. _That _is more likely to get your ass killed in this world."

"Have you told him you were plannin' to go?" T-dog asked, sparing her another glance.

She shook her head. "No. And I don't plan too either. He was the mayor of a town that's dead now. He isn't the law. Not over me. All these people, you included, can treat him like he is. I don't have anyone to answer to anymore."

"Michonne, it isn't safe out there." He said, his voice strained. They had become pretty good friends over the past few weeks and he didn't want her to get herself killed over something like this.

"Where is the man's daughter?" She asked suddenly.

He felt his mouth pull down in another frown. "I don't know. He has a daughter?" He never heard the man mention it before.

She nodded. "When we were at the Dixons cookout. He was there with a little girl. He introduced her as his daughter. Now he's suddenly alone. Why hasn't he mentioned her?"

T-dog remembered then. A lot had happened that night and he had been pretty drunk. But now he recalled it. There had been a little girl there with the man. He couldn't believe that had slipped his mind. He still wasn't convinced though. "Maybe he lost her to those things and just doesn't want to talk about it. You can't really blame the man for that. When do you plan on leaving?" He asked.

She shrugged. "A few days maybe. I'm thinking about heading back home."

"There's nothing there but those things. At least here you have people."

Now it was her who was doing the scoffing. "Here we have an all you can eat buffet for those things. It's only a matter of time before someone here slips up and then we're all just sitting ducks with our guards down. I can't do that."

"You wont even think about it?" he asked, feeling dread at the thought of her leaving.

"I have." She finally looked at him. "You can come along if you want but I can't stay here."

He didn't say anything for a long time. He wished she had never even given him the invite. Now if he said no and she left without him he would always wonder if she ever made it and then he would feel guilty because he would always wonder if she could have made it if he'd been with her.

"We're safe here." He said after a few minutes of silence.

"Opinions vary." She smiled slightly but for once he didn't smile back. There didn't seem to be too much to smile about at the moment.

~H~

Daryl wiped the sweat off his brow and started putting the tools away. Oscar was still tightening up a few screws. Two generators. That was what they had scored on the run that damn near killed him. Looking back on it now, now that they were about to have electricity after four weeks without it, it had almost been worth it. It had been him, Shane and Rick and the outbuilding they had been plundering was clear of any walkers. The land seemed to be clear of them too. They had came out of nowhere, about twenty of them, and almost took him, Shane and Rick out.

Rick and Daryl both vowed to keep it to themselves and then threatened Shane with castration if he told a soul. Daryl had had the closest call. The only reason he was alive now was because the thing that had gotten him from behind had tried to take a chunk out of his shoulder and it hadn't been able to rip through the leather of his jacket before Shane blew it's head nearly clean off.

They didn't want Lori or Carol to know about what happened to the three of them. Especially Carol, since Daryl was the one that had the closest call. She had been really strong throughout this whole thing and he didn't want her to start getting scared now. Not that she wasn't scared already, but that would be something that could really worry her. He didn't need her to worry about him on top of the other things she was always worrying about.

In the three story building that housed Hershel's animal hospital there were apartments and Buck had had his eye on them for a while. They had stayed in the furniture store for a while but everyone agreed that they needed their own space and with all the spare room they had in the town there was no reason for them to stay in the furniture store forever. The apartments were close enough together, as long as they all stayed on the same floor, that they would be safe.

They walked away, both sweating and grimy. Daryl didn't know what it was like to be clean anymore and all he could think about was a shower. Now all he had to do was hope that the water heaters in the apartments were electric and not gas. It didn't matter. He would take a cold shower if it meant he wouldn't have to go to bed that night smelling himself. He stank. They all did.

Him and Oscar made their way back towards the building that everyone was waiting in. When they heard a loud whoop coming from inside they looked at one another and grinned. Shane met them at the door and looked like he wanted to hug someone. Daryl hoped he chose Oscar cause he would hate to have to punch the guy so soon after he had saved his life.

"We got lights." Shane grinned.

"No shit, dummy. What the hell you think me and Oscar's been doin' out there?" Daryl asked as he walked past them towards the stairway that led up to the apartments. "And we can't be usin' lights and shit all the time. We'll end up burnin' them generators up or runnin' out of fuel before it even starts to get real cold."

Shane and Oscar followed him up the stairs. "You're a real buzz kill, Dixon. You know that?" Shane asked from behind him.

It was almost dark and the upstairs hallway was dim but they all found their own doors pretty easily. Daryl hadn't really cared either way so it had been up to Carol to find theirs. He was missing the big house more and more. He missed the way it smelled and he missed the way it seemed to ease his worries a little bit. That was the place where he had heeled. He wanted to go home. Maybe even more than Carol did.

Merle was coming out of the apartment that Carol had picked out. He had made sure to grab the one right across the hall from them. He was doing better but he still hovered over her all the time.

"Carol in there?" Daryl didn't even know why he asked. He knew she was.

Merle nodded. "I gotta get my ass in that shower."

"Smells like a great idea." Oscar grinned before he walked on down the hall.

Merle flipped him off and disappeared through his own door.

Daryl hurried into the apartment then. It was dark when he went inside so he took off down the short hallway and saw light shining out from under the bathroom door. He could smell it then. Soap, steam, shampoo. God, all he could think about was getting the filth off of himself.

"Daryl?" She asked from behind the curtain.

He toed off his boots and rolled his eyes. "Who the hell else would it... Never mind. Don't answer that." He wasted no time stripping and then slipping in behind her. It had been a long time since they had even been around each other with their clothes off. They were working too hard to secure the town that they usually fell asleep as soon as they went to bed.

She didn't turn her body around but she grinned at him from over her shoulder, as she scrubbed vigorously at her hair. "This has to be the best shower I've ever taken in my life." She laughed and he laughed with her. She was covered in soap suds like she had already used enough soap for ten showers. "You guys really came through for us today." She said as she turned her head back to face the water.

He was itching to take her place under the spray but she didn't look like she was in the mood to share at the moment. So he waited, steadfastly ignoring the part of him that was acutely aware of how long it had been since he had been this close to her with no clothes on. Getting clean was what he wanted first. Then he wanted her.

Once she was finally rinsed off she threw him one more smile over her shoulder and then slipped out of the shower. He frowned. He must have really looked like shit. She never acted like she was in that big of a hurry to get away from him. He almost forgot what he was worrying about once he was able to get under the water. He scrubbed until he thought his skin would fall off. When he peeked out from behind the curtain she was still there, wearing nothing but his T-shirt and a pair of short cotton shorts, brushing her teeth at the sink.

She had started wearing his shirts a few weeks ago. He figured it was because they were always working and his shirts were bigger and more comfortable. When she wasn't wearing his t-shirts she was wearing hoodies.

He wanted to linger in there longer but all he could think about now was getting to bed. He only had a few hours before Buck would come and wake them up for their shift on watch. Him and Carol were always paired up with Rick and Shane. Lori had been pretty sick the last few weeks, throwing up almost constantly so they didn't make her take watch. Carol refused to stay in. She hadn't been sick at all and she hadn't had anymore hormone induced breakdowns.

He rinsed off quickly and then hurried out before she had a chance to escape the bathroom. He had been so eager that he hadn't even grabbed himself a change of clothes to take with him so he just tied the towel around his waist.

"You alright?" He asked as he met her eyes in the mirror.

She spit into the sink and then nodded. "Fine. Why?"

He shrugged and then followed her out of the bathroom, straight into the bedroom across the hall. When they could rest, they rested. That was the way it had been since they had gotten there. It was a pain in the ass but Daryl knew that they had it much better than others did. They had a strong group and they had them guns that he had been so pissed off about at first. It seemed like years had passed instead of weeks.

They made their way in the dark. He didn't even know where the hell Buck had put their bed, he'd only been in the apartment long enough earlier to see the living room. He'd been too eager to get that generator to pay much attention to a stupid apartment that wouldn't ever feel like home to him. He grabbed a hold of the back of her shirt, causing her to laugh.

"You lost, Dixon?" She asked.

She led him to the bed and then he crawled in after her without worrying about putting anything on. He wasn't worried about being dressed. He hadn't worked nearly as hard today as he usually did and neither had she so he knew they weren't that tired, and they were actually _clean_. All he wanted to do now was get dirty again.

With a grin he pulled her closer, burying his face into her neck when she rolled over to face him. She smelled incredible. When his lips found hers he moved so she was on her back once more, her fingers raking his hair back from his face. He worked his hand under her shirt and then pulled his face away from hers, eyes widening.

Where once there had been the flat planes of her lower stomach there was now a prominent bulge under his palm... and it almost freaked him out. How had he not noticed that? And then he knew how. That's why she'd been wearing his shirts.

"When the fuck did that happen?" He whispered, keeping his hand pressed flat against it.

"Close to fifteen weeks ago we had sex and..."

"You're a smart ass." he muttered and then kissed her again. He didn't understand. Lori was at least a few weeks more pregnant than she was and Lori was still skin and bones. Actually she looked smaller than she had not long ago. She was sickly looking all the time. Hershel had her and Carol both on vitamins that he'd found in the pharmacy and Carol was as healthy looking as ever, but not Lori.

He explored this new roundness for a few silent moments before pulling away from the kiss once more. She huffed and let her head fall back to the pillow.

"How come you're like this and Lori don't look pregnant at all?" He whispered, honestly curious.

She sighed and put her hands behind her head. "I don't know. But I figure that the less of this she sees the easier it will be on her. She's so sick all the time and she's kinda wasting away. She's scared to death while I feel healthy as a horse. I don't want her to see this and then worry even more about her own. She's been trying really hard to be as strong as the rest of us. I'm afraid that maybe..."

"She'll be fine." He didn't let her finish her sentence. But he had to admit that even he had been worried about the woman. Him and her were alright. They got along pretty good and sometimes she was even funny. Or she was, until she got sick.

She nodded and then covered his hand with her own.

"Ya still coulda let me know what was going on?" He grouched as he laid his head on her chest. He wasn't as eager as he had been before to get dirty again. He didn't know what the rules were but he wasn't willing to do anything to hurt the kid. The kid that he could actually _feel_ now. Or almost.

"You've been tired and you've been busy. I figured you would notice eventually." She was smiling, he could hear it in her voice, which caused him to grin. She usually didn't smile when they talked about this stuff.

"Yeah. I guess I would." He yawned. He must have been more tired than he thought.

~H~

Beth made her way down the sidewalk towards where she knew Buck would be. There was a lot more activity than usual outside of the barricade at the end of the block. Where those things were usually pretty quiet, moaning or growling on occasion, tonight they seemed to be a bit worked up. Buck had told her and Merle to fill him in if anything changed and she had thought this was a change he would want to know about.

Merle didn't want to leave his post but he didn't want her walking the two blocks alone. She had eventually won the whispered argument. He didn't want her there alone with just an overturned trailer separating her from a swarm of walkers.

She held her gun in front of her, keeping her ears and her eyes open for any threat. If she hadn't then she probably wouldn't have noticed the quick movement down the ally she was passing. She stopped in her tracks and turned so she could get a better look into the shadows there. Whatever it was it had been quick. It could have been an animal but she doubted it. It couldn't have been a walker because they were mindless eating machines that weren't fast like that.

She was a block away from Merle and Buck both. She didn't want to call out and cause the walkers to get even more worked up. She took a step into the dark ally, holding her gun out in front of her.

She squinted when she thought she saw a darker shadow moving along the wall, heading away from her, then another. Two shadows. Two men. Two men that weren't a part of her group. She wasn't sure what to do. Buck's rule of act don't think kind of didn't apply to this situation, but the longer she waited the longer whoever it was had to either hide or get back out of the town.

With a frustrated growl she took off running. Straight towards the shadows she had seen dart around the building.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the delay folks! Have been dealing with family stuff and then school starting back has gotten me all behind on here! I home school both my kids so that takes up a little time! I'm still updating as much as I can though! Just bear with me until everything settles out and I have more free time. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you all for reading! Have a great Monday! =)**

Chapter Eight

Beth slipped silently by down the narrow ally way, listening intently for the sound of anyone ahead. She knew her mistake as soon as she rounded the corner. She was completely alone and although she had her gun, and she was damn good with it, she could still be ambushed if there were people there to have a war with her group. And a war is exactly what it would be. It was how Buck had worded it.

Her father was a great man and she loved him dearly. He was good and he was strong in his beliefs and true to his faith. He had taught her to be the same, guiding her to become the best person that she could be. He had taught her sister the same. The lessons he taught them would have taken them far. It was important to be a kind person. It was important to be a compassionate person and it was important to love deeply. Those were some of the things her daddy taught her and they were things she still believed in with all her heart. Her daddy had guided her and Maggie with a gentle hand and a kindness that Beth was proud she had inherited from the man.

And she would apply everything she had learned from him within the walls they had built around their town. But that was where it ended.

Buck Dixon was the scariest man she had ever known. He wasn't like her father in any way. He was kind, but there was even an edge to his kindness that made her nervous sometimes. He was quick to take what he wanted with brute force, never truly letting his guard down and trusting others with great difficulty. He was the type of man that didn't blink at the thought of spilling the blood of another. Like Hershel, he loved deeply but unlike Hershel, the love he had for his family made him that much more frightening. He would kill to save them. He would inflict as much pain as he could on those that would hurt the ones he considered his own. Gentle encouragement wasn't his way. He would find the tiniest spark of malice in your soul and he would water and feed it until it grew. And once it was grown he would mold it into what it needed to be. What _he_ needed it to be.

No. Nothing like her daddy. But she would apply everything he taught her. There was a fine line between the Beth in this world and the Beth from a month ago. And Buck was the man that had etched that line right down the middle of her psyche. She could flip it like a switch. She could be her daddy's Beth or she could be Buck's Beth. Right now she was very much Buck's.

She rounded the corner with caution, going in ducked low and pressed against the wall. About twenty feet away she saw a figure standing over another that was lying prone on the ground, there back turned to her. On silent feet she hurried forward, slipping the rifle from over her shoulder and holding the barrel in a two handed grip like a baseball bat. Whoever it was stiffened but before the person could turn around Beth swung, hitting them in the side of the head with the butt of her gun. They dropped like a stone, almost on top of the person they had been standing over.

She surveyed the area quickly, making sure there was no one or nothing else coming towards her. When all seemed to be quiet she knelt down and rolled over the person she had just clobbered in the head.

In the dim moonlight she saw a familiar face.

"Oh crap!" She spat as she quickly put her hand on the side of Michonne's neck. She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt a steady pulse under her fingers. She was totally going to get her ass kicked when Michonne woke up. This was bad. Her eyes shifted from Michonne's unconscious face to the person she had been standing over. It was a man she had never seen before and there was a bleeding gash in the center of his forehead. Michonne must have stabbed him. She saw something next to the woman catch the moonlight dimly.

She leaned closer and saw the it was a long blade. Michonne had killed an intruder but how she had gotten here in the first place was a mystery to Beth. Had she been hiding here the whole time? Surely not. Without another thought Beth took off running in the direction she had come from. She had to tell Buck about this and they had to warn the others in case there were more men there. She hated leaving Michonne but there was no way she could carry her or drag her along. She needed to get to Buck. Merle was going to have a fit once he found out what she had done. But she'd deal with that when the time came.

~H~

Carol knew he was asleep. He was breathing heavy and deep right into her ear, causing her to smile in the dark. She eased his hand off of her stomach and slid as quietly as she could out of bed. She had to pee constantly, getting up several times a night and he was used to it now so it never woke him up. Either that or he had simply been too exhausted to wake up. It was probably a combination of both.

She hurried across the hall to the bathroom. As she was washing her hands she glanced up in the mirror and smiled at her reflection. She was happy to be able to wash her hands at all. It was the small things now that she was always reminding herself to be thankful for. She felt a soft fluttering sensation deep in her lower abdomen and smirked as she glanced down. It seemed that there was a Dixon who agreed with her positive attitude. Once she got over all of her initial fears she had accepted the fact that carrying this baby wasn't some kind of curse. It wasn't some sort of danger to those around her. It was something that symbolized hope in this strange new world. It was a part of her and a part of him and she couldn't possibly love it more than she did now.

She was about to head back to her bedroom but the silence of the apartment was interrupted by the sound of footsteps hurrying down the hall outside the living room door. More than one set. She thought about waking Daryl up but he needed his sleep. He had worked harder than anyone else to secure their town and he needed this break. She went to the door quickly and peeked out into the hall. When she saw Lori standing outside her door, looking towards the stairs.

She came out into the hall, shutting her door quietly. When Lori turned and saw her coming towards her she startled a bit and then smiled. "You scared the crap out of me." She whispered.

"I'm so sorry." Carol said when she reached her. "What's going on?"

Lori looked back towards the stairs and shrugged. "Andrea just came and asked for Rick. She said it wasn't anything to worry about."

Carol followed her eyes with a frown. It must not have been anything too bad because Buck would have sent for Daryl. She put a hand on Lori's frail shoulder, almost wincing at how fragile Lori felt under her touch. "How are you feeling?"

She met Carol's eyes and smiled. "I ate dinner and I didn't get sick. My head isn't hurting and I'm not even tired. I took a shower. This has been a really good night for me."

Carol couldn't help but grin and then pull the other woman in for a hug. Lori's eyes were bright with un-shed tears. "I've been so scared for this baby." She whispered as she hugged Carol tightly.

"I think everything is going to be fine." Carol said into Lori's hair. "You're strong."

Lori nodded and was about to pull away when she stiffened. She moved her head back slowly, keeping her hands on Carols shoulders, her eyes were huge and one lone tear escaped and trailed slowly down her cheek.

For one horrifying moment Carol thought that Lori was upset. She had tried to go to great lengths to hide her growing stomach from Lori who barely had any bump there at all, but the way they were standing their stomachs were flush against one another. She didn't want Lori to feel any worse than she already did while Carol flourished and she withered away. She couldn't bare to see the pain in her friends eyes.

Suddenly Lori covered her mouth with her hand and Carol was about to step away from her but she placed her hand back on Carol's shoulders so she couldn't move. Carol's arms were still around Lori's thin waist.

"I felt it." Lori said and then her face lit up with a grin as her eyes looked down and then back up again. More tears escaped.

Carol's heartbeat picked up. "You felt it move?" In that moment Carol hadn't realized exactly how afraid she had been that there was something wrong.

Lori nodded and then laughed as she met her eyes once more. "As soon as you hugged me, I could feel it." Her voice sounded awed. "Carol, I thought surely it was..."

"No. No, you can't think like that." Carol shook her head.

"I can't now." She laughed. "I just felt it move. Maybe your little Dixon is like it's grandpa and bossed my baby into squirming a bit." She was elated, her face glowing.

Carol laughed. "That really is a possibility."

~H~

Merle was going to kick her in the ass so hard she wouldn't be able to sit for a fucking week. A month, maybe. He glared at her as they gathered around the body of the man Michonne had killed. Michonne was just coming too and Hershel leaned over her, shining a small light into her face.

"Buck, tell her it was you that knocked her out." Beth whispered as Buck knelt down next to Hershel.

Buck shook his head. "You're the one with the bright idea to go off on your own, little one. You gotta face the wrath of Michonne." He looked up at her. "Good luck with that."

Beth shifted from one foot to the other. "I didn't have a choice. I thought it was someone dangerous. We have to protect each other." She crossed her arms over her chest and ignored the four sets of angry eyes that landed on her. Rick, Buck and Hershel all three glared. Merle had been glaring for the last fifteen minutes but she had ignored him. Stubborn ass girl.

"It coulda been someone dangerous so ya follow them down a dark ally like a dumb ass?" Merle growled, hovering over her like a bear. He couldn't believe how stupid she had been. She could have been killed! Did she have any idea what that would have done to him?

"Did you really just call me a dumb ass, Merle?" She asked, hands on her hips and eyes narrowed.

"No, I said_ like _a dumb ass. And it was. There ain't room for mistakes like this, you understand me? Jesus, what if it hadn't been Michonne and what if they had seen you comin'? You ever think about that?"

She stomped off past him and towards the ally.

"Where the hell are ya goin'?" He hissed.

"To the wall. Ya know, where I can stand there and do nothin'. Just like ya want." She said over her shoulder.

He watched her storm off, itching to follow her but he needed to stay here and figure out what the hell was going on. Why was Michonne here and who the fuck was the guy she killed?

"What happened?" Michonne asked as she sat up with a little help from Buck.

"Misunderstanding is all." Buck said quickly. "Who is this guy?" He asked as he motioned towards the body behind her.

She turned her head, wincing, and then looked back at Buck. "I don't know. When I got here I saw that the town was blocked off. I needed to see who had taken over so I got in. This guy was hiding out and I spotted him before he spotted me. The way he was scoping everything out I thought maybe he was bad news. He was about to pull a gun on me when I finally confronted him. So I stabbed him in the head. Who hit me?" She winced again as Hershel examined her head wound.

"It ain't as bad as it could have been. You'll live I'm sure. I have something you can take for the pain." Hershel said as he stood up.

Rick and Buck helped her up. "Where did you come from, Michonne?" Rick asked as he led her by the arm as she made her slow way down the ally.

"Town called Woodbury a few counties over. We secured it. There's a lot of survivors there. It's pretty safe." Her voice was as halting as her steps.

Merle frowned. "Then why in the hell did you leave?"

"I left a week ago. I don't trust the Mayor. There's something about him... something isn't right with him."

Merle remembered what Daryl had said about the dog. That he knew bad people. Merle wasn't sure he trusted Blue so much as to let him decide who lived or died but he did trust the dogs instincts. And the dog hadn't liked Philip Blake any more than Buck or Daryl did. He hadn't liked Jim either. And now Michonne was another one that didn't trust the man. He had thought Buck's problem was jealousy and Daryl didn't really like anybody so that had been no surprise either but now he was starting to wonder about the guy.

"So is there other towns?" Merle asked. "Besides this one and this Woodbury place you're talkin' about?"

Michonne shook her head, wincing again. "Not that I went through. Most of them have a lot of biters."

"Biters?" Buck asked.

"Yes. It's what we've been calling them. You got another name?"

Merle spoke before Buck could. "We call'em Walkers. Since they're the walkin' dead."

"Walkers." Michonne said in a low voice. "I like that better."

Buck asked Rick to go on watch with Beth until Merle came back. He didn't seem all that pleased but he didn't try to argue. They made their way to the pharmacy first so Hershel could get her something for the headache that she must have been feeling. Then they went to Buck and Andrea's apartment. It had an extra bedroom that Michonne could take over for the night and Hershel wanted to give her one last look over before he retired back to his room once more.

"Was there anyone else there that we know?" Buck asked as Hershel cleaned the gash in her head.

"Yeah, T-dog is still there and so is Carol's friend Tyreese and his sister. She'd come up from Atlanta just for a visit when all hell broke loose." Michonne said quietly. "Who secured this place?" She asked.

Merle looked down before he inched towards the door. He really needed to get his ass back to Beth. He knew all they would end up doing for the rest of the night was fight. He dreaded it and he knew why she did what she did but it didn't mean that she hadn't scared him to death.

He heard Michonne speak one last time before he made it to the door. "I'm not going back to that town."

"You ain't got too." Buck said quietly right before Merle slipped out the door.

~H~

Carol and Lori said their goodbyes after a few more minutes and then she retreated back to the apartment. When she opened the door Daryl was there, still shirtless but yanking on his boots, eyes bleary but wide. He glared at her when she came in.

"Where the hell were you?" He demanded as he kicked his boots back off.

"I was out in the hall talking to Lori." She said as she shut the door and then leaned against it as she watched him.

"You shoulda told me somethin'. I didn't know where the fuck you had ran off too." He growled as he approached her.

She was used to this. Ever since that day in the store when that walker came out and she had to kill it with her hatchet he had been like this. She didn't freak out on him anymore. She understood that he was compelled to keep her safe and she was okay with that now.

He stopped a few feet in front of her and crossed his arms, giving her a once over and then another hard look.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to wake you up. I heard someone out in the hall and when I checked to see who it was Lori was standing there. I wanted to check on her."

His eyes softened instantly. "How is she?" He asked. She wasn't surprised to hear genuine concern in his voice.

Carol held his gaze for a few long seconds before she let the grin she was trying to hide spread across her face. "She's gonna be okay. She's holding down food and she feels stronger. She felt her baby move for the first time."

He nodded, anger vanishing. "That's good. That's real good. I thought for sure that baby was..."

"Don't say it." She said quickly. She had been fearing the worst herself but never even let herself think the thought out loud. She had been terrified of being pregnant at first but now she couldn't imagine what kind of hell it would be like to lose a baby. This baby. She didn't want Lori to have to go through something that she couldn't stand the thought of happening to herself.

He closed the distance and placed his hands on her hips. "We got two hours before we gotta go on watch. You need to go back to sleep." He said, the corners of his mouth turning up as his finger traced the line of her throat.

Her arms instantly went around his neck but she fought off the smile and gave him what she hoped was a sultry look. She figured she looked more like an idiot than anything else but she tried anyway. When his body pressed her harder into the door she figured that it was working. He was a total sucker. "We've been working like dogs, Daryl. All we do when we aren't working is sleeping."

"So." He said, swallowing hard. "We need sleep."

"No. I _need_ you. You haven't touched me in a month. A _month_, Daryl."

He kissed her gently, slowly, causing her head to spin as his hands traveled up from her hips to her waist, catching the shirt and pulling it up. He only broke the kiss long enough for the shirt to come up over her head. She had been afraid for him to see her. She was never sure what would end up freaking him out and the sight of the bump between her hipbones had scared the hell out of her at first. She should have had more faith in him than that. Out of the two of them she had been the one that was more prone to freaking out over things.

"You sure we can do this?" He asked in a strained voice.

She nodded, smiling and pushing him towards the couch as he peeled his own shirt off. Her eager fingers were working to free him from his jeans as she walked. "We can definitely do this." She breathed as she pushed him down, shimmied out of her shorts and straddled him, kissing him a lot harder than he had kissed her.

She felt feverish as his hands moved over her, like she was even more sensitive to his touch than she had been before. When she had said that she needed him she had not been lying. Her breath rushed out of her when she lowered herself onto him. It had been too long. From the grip he had on her hips he was feeling the same way.

It didn't take her long before she was gasping into his neck, her body shuddering as he held her closer, tensing himself. There wasn't any holding back on his part and she was glad. They had wasted too much time holding back already.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, all you extra patient awesome people! Again, sorry about the delay and the boring chapters. It's about to pick back up. You'll see. I'm ready for some excitement and I'm sure you are too. So, I hope you like this chapter, it gives a little insight as to where I am going with this. Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a great morning! Or night, depending on where you are! =)**

Chapter Nine

T-dog stared out at the biters below him once more before he turned and climbed down. He gazed out on the town that looked so normal compared to the confusing scene outside the walls. There were people meandering about as usual. Children on bikes being chased by dogs. It was so surreal compared to the outside.

He had just been released from his shift on the wall and all he really wanted to do was get cleaned up, have something to eat and then go on to bed for a while. He couldn't help but feel morose after Michonne had left a week before. He had liked her a lot. She was his friend. And he was almost sure that, no matter how fierce she was, she was dead. There was no way someone could survive those things alone. Hell, he didn't think anyone could survive those things with an army there to back you up. To stay safe you had to stay behind walls. That was how he saw it. That was what the Mayor always told them.

"What's with the long face, my friend?"

T-dog's head came up at the sound of a familiar female voice. He smiled as Sasha fell into step beside him. "Just thinkin' I suppose." He said, trying to offer her a smile but failing miserably.

"Are you thinkin' about how safe we are? How we're all fed with jobs to do and roofs over our heads. Because you really don't look like a man thinking about all the things we are blessed with. You look like a man that's brooding over his lost girl." She elbowed him.

He scoffed at her. The truth was, Sasha wasn't too far off the mark, except for saying he was brooding over _his_ lost girl. He had become good friends with Michonne and he was worried but he sure as hell didn't look at her like that. She was scary as hell sometimes.

"You know," Sasha went on, oblivious to his thoughts, "If anyone can make it out there it's her." She said in a much less teasing tone. She even touched his arm gently which about had him falling over his own feet. Yeah, he definitely didn't look at Michonne like that but he couldn't say the same about Sasha.

He just nodded at her and kept heading towards is room. He had had a girlfriend prior to the biters but they had broken up a few weeks before it all started. She moved out, leaving to go back up north to her parents. He hoped Indiana was faring better than Georgia. They didn't really break up on bad terms and he couldn't stand the thought of something bad happening to her.

"Is your brother with the Mayor?" He asked, pushing thoughts of potentially lost loved ones out of his head.

"Yeah. He's been trying to convince the Mayor to let him go with him and Marinez and some of the others when they go on their runs but it isn't working. He just keeps telling Tyreese that he's the muscle here when the rest of them are gone." She snorted, causing T-dog to chuckle a little. But then something occurred to him.

"You ever wonder what the hell they do out there? I mean, he only takes a handful of men with him but they've managed to stock up on a lot of stuff over the last few weeks. Don't make a whole lot of sense really."

She gave him a long level look. "I was thinkin' the same thing. I just didn't want to say anything. That's why Michonne left? She didn't trust him, did she?"

He shook his head. "She thought he was up to no good. I just don't know, though. It wouldn't really matter, would it?"

She frowned. "I don't guess it really would. We're kind of stuck here. And I know that everything seems a little bit on the shady side but really, he seems to really care about this place. He seems to care about the people here. It isn't safe out there, he's telling the truth about that."

she followed him all the way to his room and walked in with him. They were silent for a while while he rummaged through the cabinet for something to eat.

"What do you think?" She asked after a while.

"I think that I hope you're right. I hope he cares about this place and these people as much as he seems too. But I'm startin' to wonder. I mean, really wonder if maybe there's something up with him and those other men. I pretty much blew Michonne off when she was trying to tell me the same thing. But I've been thinkin' about it a lot."

Sasha settled herself down in the chair across from him but they both stood up quickly when they heard something from outside. A shot.

"What the hell?" T-dog mumbled as he rushed to the window and peeked out from between the closed drapes at the people that were hurrying towards the wall. Him and Sasha took off outside, stopping on the sidewalk and then both nearly getting mowed over by Tyreese.

He grabbed his sisters hand and kept on going so T-dog followed them towards the others that were gathering around the wall he had vacated. They were opening the doors so the trio stopped and waited. T-dog watched as men started filing in. A lot of men.

"Who the hell are they?" She asked quietly.

T-dog just watched. There had to have been at least thirty men. All of them looked pretty bad. Dirty and hungry and tired. A few looked vaguely familiar to him but he couldn't put any names to the faces he saw. The Mayor was chatting with the man that stood in front of the others and T-dog couldn't help the feeling of dread that had his stomach turning flips as he stood with Tyreese and Sasha, a half a block away, and watched as Philip Blake shook the mans hand and grinned.

Somehow he knew that this was not a good thing. Not a good thing at all. Not for him and his friends anyway. He suddenly missed Michonne even more than he had been missing her earlier. Had he made a mistake staying here? As the men started walking towards them with the Mayors right hand men he decided that he had indeed made a mistake.

He was pretty sure he wasn't the only one that felt that way either when he felt Sasha's hand slide into his own and squeeze it gently. He looked up at Tyreese over her head and Tyreese met his eyes, his face filled with worry.

As much as he hated it he thought maybe it was time for them to at least put some thought into leaving.

~H~

Merle was still pissed off, even two days later but he tried not to let her know it. She had scared the hell out of him and now he was trying to keep an eye on her and Carol both. He rolled over onto his back and threw an arm over his eyes. He was sick of taking the night shift but he knew why they had to. He felt like he hadn't slept much for the last month. He didn't like sleeping part of his day away. Not that he had been much of an early riser before but he never slept until after noon. Now it was well after lunch before he climbed his sorry ass out of bed.

Beth shifted next to him, slinging an arm around his waist and laying her head on his chest. He thought that she was still asleep until she raised her head off his chest and then shoved his arm off of his eyes.

"You're still mad." She said, not sounding like she had been asleep for a while herself.

"I ain't really mad." He grumbled and then tried to put his arm back over his eyes. She stopped him once more, forcing him to look at her.

"I ain't stupid, Merle." She eyed him and then scooted closer.

"Really? For a not stupid girl you sure do dumb shit sometimes." He figured if she was going to push it then they could argue about what she had done all over again. Why the hell not? It wasn't like she was going to let him try to go back to sleep.

"You care. That's why you act like a complete ass. I forgive you." She said with a small smile right before she kissed him. He would have been able to come back with another smart ass remark if she had just stopped at the kiss but she didn't. She moved over until she was on top of him, trapping him between her legs. He lost his train of thought after that as he wrapped one arm around her and dragged her down so she was pressed flush against him.

All she was wearing was one of his old shirts. He could feel her through his boxers and he found himself growling into her mouth as he ran his hands up her bare thighs. It didn't take her long to get his boxers off and then she was right back on him once more.

This was new. He was usually always the one that took control of the situation even when she was the one that initiated it. But she didn't seem to want to go anywhere and he couldn't seem to find the strength to argue with her anymore. But she wasn't hurrying the way he had expected her too. Everything had to be done in a rush now days but they still had quite a while before they had to be up and start being productive citizens. He tugged the shirt up over her head and tossed it behind her, grinning wickedly.

When she leaned up and reached for the drawer of the nightstand he raised his head and grazed her rib cage with his teeth, causing her to gasp. She was a smart one because he had damn near forgotten all about any kind of protection. Good thing she hadn't. She stopped wasting time after that. She forced his hands up over his head, which made him laugh but then she was kissing him again, cutting the laugh short. Her fingers twined through his when she finally lowered herself onto him, keeping his hands in place, not letting him touch her. Not that he couldn't have if that was really what he wanted to do but he would let her have her fun.

She made a quiet sound in the back of her throat as his breath came out in a rush. He was pretty sure he would never get used to her. The hot feel of her all around him. She was moving agonizingly slow and when he moved under her she would stop and then smile against his lips. She wouldn't start up again until he stilled and growled at her. He had to remind himself that they weren't pressed for time, that there was no reason to hurry but after a while, right before he was almost sure she was right there at that edge he yanked his hands away from hers, wrapped his arm around her waist and then rolled over, pinning her under him.

She laughed and then wrapped her legs around his waist. He wasn't as patient as her. His teeth nipped her earlobe and then she whimpered as he moved faster than she had, that slow tension causing her to clench around him. He smirked into her neck as he hooked her leg, sliding it over his shoulder right before she bit into his lip lightly. She kept one arm clamped around his neck as she dragged the nails of her other hand down his back.

He had never thought that one person would be enough to satiate his appetite but she was more than enough. He crushed her mouth with his when he finally let go, silently losing himself in her.

~H~

Buck stood on top of the overturned truck trailer and gazed out at the walkers. He wanted to use them all for target practice but he knew that he couldn't. They had plenty of ammo for now but that wouldn't last forever. They needed to save what they had in case there was a breech in their defenses. As much as he wanted to rush out there and smash in the heads of every single one of those nasty bastards, he wouldn't do it. He'd stand there and watch them and grind his teeth and bare with it until he had the chance to finally let loose on them.

He usually didn't spend this much time thinking about it. He was usually always on watch with a partner. Hell, it was his own rule. But now he was just bored as fuck and there were so damn many of those things that he could take out. His fingers twitched towards the blade at his side. He hadn't used it since that day in the back yard.

He narrowed his eyes at one of the walkers. It was a female that looked a lot like Jenna. He heard a low growl escape his lips and his hand twitched for the blade once more. He really wanted to go put that blade right in that bitch walkers brain. He kept watching them and kept feeling more and more impatient. The cold air did nothing to sooth his tension. He glanced behind him once. Michonne was walking towards the truck trailer.

He liked her. She kept to herself and didn't feel the need for idle chat. He noticed that about her on the first day they had met. And the woman was fucking bad ass. There was no other way to describe her. So he knew that he didn't have to worry about her over reacting to what he was about to do.

She looked up and he waved slightly right before he jumped down off the trailer.

Instantly the walkers zeroed in on him, causing him to grin. He didn't even give them a chance to get to him. He took off towards them at a run and smashed his knife into the eye of the walker that reminded him of Jenna. There were plenty more where she came from. He knew this was stupid and if he caught one of the others doing it he would wring their damn neck. He stabbed another through the chin, the tip of the blade nearly coming out the top of it's head. He laughed like a maniac.

He backed up towards the trailer so he could see what was coming at him, glancing behind occasionally to make sure none of them were coming to take a chunk out of him. He wanted to keep them all in front of him. He wasn't sure how many he had killed when he realized that more and more just kept coming. He didn't care though. He was tired of doing nothing. Tired of waiting and watching. Tired of all the caution.

He heard something to his right and looked over. Michonne gave him a stiff nod and then her and that crazy ass sword went to work. Heads went flying and he let out another laugh. He could really get used to hanging out with this woman. He wasn't sure how long they were down there but they watched each others backs and had a fun time thinning out that herd. He felt fingers on his shirt once but with a grunt and a curse Michonne had speared the thing in the head before it could bite him.

Buck heard someone call his name and he turned just in time to see Daryl and Carol standing on top of the trailer he had abandoned. With a sigh he Michonne over to the trailer, hefting her up and nearly tossing her onto the top. She glared at him indignantly as he climbed up after her. He felt better than he had in weeks. The grin died on his face when Carol, hands on her hips, eyed him.

"What the hell were you doing? You scared me to death! Are you two crazy?" She shrieked.

He couldn't answer her. He was taken aback when he saw that she was wearing one of her own shirts under the jacket that she hadn't bothered to zip up. It was one of her old t-shirts that was a little clingy. If he had been a more sentimental man he would have reached out and touched the very noticeable bump that was protruding from the jacket. But he kept his hands to himself, even though he had that itch again, not to kill this time, but to do something. When Carol noticed what he was looking at she shoved her hands into her pockets and pulled the jacket around her midsection.

"Well?" She asked, her chin raising a few inches.

"Got bored." He shrugged and then slapped Daryl on the back. "Didn't hardly recognize you without all that dirt on your face." He said to Daryl, dragging his eyes away from the telltale bulge now hiding behind that jacket.

He had been talking to Michonne about that Woodbury place all morning and he thought maybe that was the real reason he had been itching to kill off a few of those things. He felt really uneasy about the things she had been telling them. She'd told them about the guns that the Mayor had been collecting, telling the townsfolk that they had gotten them from places that had been taken out by the walkers. But Buck didn't believe it. He trusted Michonne's judge of character because she seemed to be about as leery of other people as he was himself. She didn't trust easily and he didn't either.

"Do you even realize how stupid that was?" Carol snapped. "Michonne, you just found us! You both could have gotten hurt."

Michonne just rolled her eyes, like Carol was being dramatic about the whole thing.

Buck just snorted.

Daryl narrowed his eyes at him. "That really was a stupid move, Buck. You coulda gotten your ass bitten off." He said as he slipped his hand into Carol's.

Michonne scoffed. "We were fine. It never hurts to blow off some steam."

Carol just shook her head and pulled Daryl towards the edge of the trailer. They climbed down without a word. Michonne elbowed Buck in the side. "You got your hands full with them two, Buck."

He nodded. "Damn sure do, woman." He looked down at her and couldn't help but admire her quiet strength. "What do you think we should do about this Woodbury you've been tellin' me about?"

She narrowed her own eyes and watched the walkers, not saying anything for some time. When she finally spoke, her voice was low. "I think he'll eventually find this place. He's scoping out the whole damn area. He has to be. And when he finds it I don't think he'll stop until he takes it. The set up here is a lot better than Woodbury. He'll want it. And he'll kill every last one of us to get his hands on it. Maybe even Carol and that grand baby of yours. I wouldn't put it past the man at all. It's just a feelin' but I trust my gut."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and surveyed the mess the two of them had made before they had gotten caught. They had decimated the numbers of the walkers. The two of them were good together. He knew Andrea could kill as fast as the rest of them but him and Michonne were probably the strongest out of the whole group when it came right down to grit. "We did a number on them mother fuckers, huh?"

Michonne's lips twitched up into a grim smile. "We make a pretty impressive killin' team, Dixon."

He nodded, counting bodies in his head. "Makes ya wonder why a couple of bad ass walker killers like me and you would sit around and wait for some asshole to come take whats ours, right?" He asked.

"Mmm. Makes me wonder indeed." She mused.

The two of them didn't say anything else after that. Buck finished out his shift and went to check in with Andrea who was sure to give him a bunch of shit. He knew Carol would have told her all about his early morning adventure.


	10. Chapter 10

**Good morning! Again, so sorry for the delay =( Life is hectic at the moment. I'm extremely tired so if you find four billion typos it is because I flat out didn't see them! I hope you enjoy this one. We are moving right along now. Much love to you all for being so patient. Thank you for reading! Have a great day!**

Chapter Ten

Daryl could hear Andrea and Buck arguing from all the way down the hall. Him and Shane were cleaning guns, both men trying to tune out the yelling. They didn't say much to each other because neither of them had much to say but eventually the tiresome squabbling down the hall was grating on their nerves so much they had to make conversation. Daryl was about to ask Shane something but Shane looked up before he could even open his mouth.

"So, what do you think about this other town? You think Michonne is right? You think we got somethin' to worry about when it comes to this Philip guy?"

That had been at the forefront of everyone's thoughts all day. His eyes shot up and met Shane's. "I don't see no reason not to trust her. The guys a fuckin' freak. Even Blue thinks so."

Shane snorted. "You all and that damn dog."

"Talk as much shit as ya want, dumb ass. That dog is a lot smarter than you." Daryl grumbled.

Another few minutes of silence hung between them. Andrea and Buck must have came to some sort of agreement because they couldn't hear them anymore. He looked up once more and caught Shane staring at him, causing him to frown.

"The fuck you lookin' at me like that for?" He asked.

"If they have as many people in that town as Michonne says, and Philip is as bat shit crazy as you and... your dog think, then our biggest problem ain't the walkers. We ain't got the numbers he has. All we have are the guns but from what she says he's stockin' up pretty quick. You think it's smart to sit and wait for him to make a move?"

Daryl met his eyes and held them for a long time before he said anything. "What do you think we should do? Go slaughter a whole town? We don't know who the bad guys are there. Michonne said there were a ton of civilians. Kids and women. We couldn't do that."

"I ain't sayin' we should go in there, guns blazin'. But I don't think it would hurt to go have a look. Size up the enemy. You got a lot to lose, man. I figured you'd be all up for doin' what you could to keep'em safe." He shrugged and looked away.

Daryl was about to get pissed. Shane was good at finding peoples weak spots and he knew Daryl's well. The only thing he could think about was keeping Carol and the baby safe and Shane insinuating that they were in immediate danger from the men in that other town sent his teeth on edge. It was a low blow. But it worked.

"What do you suggest we do, Einstein? Fight our way through a sea of walkers for days just to spy on a town that we know nothin' about? I don't know if you ever thought of this but I can protect Carol a whole lot better if I ain't dead."

"Michonne made it here through the walkers. I bet we could get there pretty easy." Shane muttered as he put the last gun back together quickly.

"That's pretty easy for you to say. You ain't got a damn thing here dependin' on you." Daryl almost regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. He didn't particularly like Shane all that much but he didn't have to rub in the fact that the man didn't have anyone, other than his best friend.

"Leave it up to you to remind me." Shane smirked, blowing it off but Daryl could see the sting in his dark eyes. He felt like a real asshole.

He shook his head. "You know what I mean. If somethin' happens to me then my kid'll end up bein' raised with Merle as a daddy figure and that shit just wont fly."

This, at least, got a genuine laugh out of the man. "I see your point there." He shook his head and leaned back in his chair, stretching and then working the kinks out of his neck. "What do you think we should do then?" He asked.

Daryl shrugged. He wasn't too sure what they could do. He knew that Merle and Buck would be on the same page as Shane. Rick and the others would most likely side with Daryl on this one. It was too damn risky. They had too much at stake to risk losing everything they had here by leaving the place just to check out Woodbury. He knew Michonne was right but they didn't have much choice but to wait.

Shane shook his head. "You just want to sit here and play defense, huh?"

"I already told you. I ain't leavin' her here alone while I go scope out some other town. You wanna do it, fine. Have a fun trip. I'm out."

"So it's up to me to take care of you and Rick's women, huh? Go figure," Shane grumbled in a disgusted tone.

Daryl looked up from the gun he was holding, eyes blazing. "Fuck you, Shane. Ain't nobody gotta take care of mine. I've done it just fine so far."

"By knockin' her up in the first place?" The smug look on Shane's face disappeared as soon as Daryl's fist connected with the bridge of his nose.

"What the fuck, Dixon!" Shane yelled as he stood up, knocking the chair over.

"Fuck you, Walsh." Daryl growled as he took a step closer to the ex cop. The truth was, he was scared to death of this pregnancy, even if he did want the baby more than anything he'd ever wanted in his life. But there were a lot of things to think about now that they didn't have access to any doctors or hospitals. This was going to be hard and there were so many things that could go wrong. And if something did happen to her or the baby or both of them then the only person he could blame would be himself for putting her in that position to begin with. The last thing he needed was for Shane fucking Walsh to rub it in his face.

~H~

Merle was walking down the hall when he suddenly stopped outside Daryl's door. He thought he heard Shane yell something and he sounded pretty pissed. He opened the door right as Shane was about to lunge at his brother, blood oozing from his nose. Daryl moved back enough for Shane's blow to just graze his jaw.

Merle hurried over to them and got in the middle, putting his hand on each mans chest and shoving them both away. "What the hell are you two fightin' for? Ain't we got enough shit to deal with without the two of you actin' like a couple of idiots?"

"Your brother needs to learn how to take a damn joke!" Shane barked as he glared past him towards Daryl.

"Your dumb ass friend here needs to learn that some shit shouldn't be joked about." Daryl grumbled as he tried to push past Merle. Merle shoved him once more.

"Do we need to drag Buck into this?" Merle grunted as he shoved Shane away next. Both men finally relaxed a little and stopped trying to attack one another.

"That asshole hit me first. He's lucky I don't kick his ass," Shane said as he sat back down.

"Get up and try it," Daryl spat as he stalked off towards the living room.

Merle followed Daryl and put a hand on his arm to stop him before he was able to make it out the door. It was like the dumb kid was too pissed off to even realize he was in his own house. "What's the problem, little brother? First Andrea and Buck and now you and Shane. What the fuck did I sleep through?"

Daryl spun around, glare in place. "I ain't sure yet. I think we need to find Buck and sort it out though. I got a bad feelin' about that fight him and Andrea just had." He opened the door and Merle followed him.

"I doubt it's anything too bad. I'm sure they done made up by now."

Daryl looked back at him like he was an idiot. "I don't give a shit if they made up or not. I wanna know what they was fightin' about in the first place. Whatever it was it probably wasn't somethin' good for the rest of us."

They found Buck sitting on one of the benches sharpening a knife.

"What the hell are you and Andrea fightin' about?" Daryl asked.

Buck didn't even look up from his blade. "We ain't fightin'."

Merle heard Daryl sigh in frustration. "What the fuck was the two of you fightin' about then?" Daryl rolled his eyes.

Buck looked up, his lips turning up at the corners. "Thinkin' about leavin'."

Merle saw Daryl's eyes bug out of his head. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on but he was in. He was getting restless and the thought of any sort of escape from the monotonous life they had fallen into here was a welcome thought indeed.

Daryl apparently didn't feel the same way. "I fuckin' knew it! Why can't you dumb asses just leave well enough alone?"

"Just gonna be me and a few others, boy. Ain't no need in gittin' your nickers in a fuckin' bunch. Jesus." Buck grumbled as he looked back down at his work.

Now Merle was the one that was pissed. "What!" He stomped around, knowing he was looking exactly like Daryl but was unable to stop the fit he was about to throw.

Buck looked up once more. "Can't leave this place without any protection, dumb ass. You know that. We're gonna take a car anyway. We wont be gone long. I wanna see what we're dealin' with here."

Merle was about to say something else but Andrea came out of Hershel's clinic, backpack slung over her shoulder. She didn't look mad anymore and Merle thought he had an idea why.

"She gets to go?" He jabbed an angry finger in Andrea's direction. "You're makin' me stay here and you're lettin' _her_ go with you? You know that's bullshit, right?"

"You wanna go that bad then saddle up, ya damn crybaby." Buck mumbled as he stood up and sheathed the newly sharpened knife. "Make sure you let Beth know you're plannin' on ridin' out. And don't lie to the girl either. I'll tell her the truth if you don't."

Merle glared. He hadn't thought of that. If he did tell her what he was doing then she would insist on going with them and there was no way in hell she was leaving the walls of the town. But if he went without her she'd have a fit. He kicked the bench that Buck had abandoned and stormed off towards Oscar and Rick who were talking amongst themselves in the middle of the street.

He didn't even know that Daryl was on his heels until Rick asked him how Carol was doing. Merle was about to tell him that he hadn't seen her when Daryl spoke up from behind him.

"She's good. Lori?" Daryl asked after a pause.

Rick smiled, a real one for the first time in a while. "She was cooking breakfast when I got up this mornin'. And she ate without getting sick so I guess that part is done with for now."

Well that was some good news. Everyone had been secretly wondering whether or not Lori was going to be able to carry the kid and Merle knew that most were betting on a solid no. She hadn't been doing good at all since they had secured the town and made it their own.

"You guys heard about Buck and Michonne's bullshit plan to leave?" Merle asked as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Oscar nodded and this didn't surprise Merle at all. Of course they all would know about it before him.

"You think it's a good idea?" He asked.

Daryl snorted. "Hell no it ain't a good idea. Say somethin' happens while they're out? That means we're down people that could otherwise help keep this damn place safe."

Merle knew where his brother was coming from. He wasn't too thrilled about it either. Well, not now that he knew it wouldn't be worth the fight it would cause him to have with Beth. He'd rather just stay and deal with the boredom.

Rick spoke up then. "I don't think it's that bad of a plan. All they're gonna do is check it out. I'm sure Buck and Michonne had other plans until Andrea pitched a fit. Now that she's goin' he wont risk her by doin' somethin' dangerous."

Merle nodded. It was true. All he was really missing out on was a boring car ride and a sneak peak of the mayors new town. Nothing too exciting about that. Hell, he could be just as bored here. He was still pissed though.

~H~

Carol kept glancing over at Lori. She was humming to herself as she helped go through the stockpile of meds that Hershel had found in the back room of the pharmacy. It was dumb luck that whoever had looted the place hadn't checked any of the back rooms. Then again anyone worried about drugs while dead people are running around trying to kill you probably weren't smart enough to check anything other than what was behind the counter. Lucky her.

"I take it you still feel better?" She finally asked.

Lori's smile lit up her whole face. "Compared to how I did feel, I would have to say that I feel amazing today. I never thought I was going to feel this good again.

They both shelved the last of their loads and then headed out into the late afternoon sunshine. It was cold but it felt good. She felt like she had been stuck in that damn room forever. The fresh air had her feeling energized. Today was a good day. It had started out good, other than Buck and Michonne acting like a couple of children out there in the middle of a herd of walkers. That had nearly scared her to death but other than that, Lori's good mood was pretty contagious. She found herself smiling from ear to ear. Yeah, today was going to be a great...

"Shane?" She asked as she stopped on the sidewalk. "What the hell happened to your face?"

Shane glanced over at her and then stopped. "Your man is what happened to my damn face."

"Daryl?" Carol asked feeling that good mood slipping quickly.

"Hell yeah, Daryl. You know anybody else that would do it?" He snapped.

Carol narrowed her eyes. "What the hell did you say to him to cause him to do that?"

Shane seemed to tone down his attitude a bit. "Said somethin' that pissed him off apparently. No big deal, Carol." He gave them a wave and started walking towards the group that were gathering in the street.

She watched him walk away for a few long seconds and then she shook her head as she fell in step with Lori once more. The two of them started talking baby names when Lori grabbed her arm hard and stopped her. When Carol looked up Lori was staring down the street, eyes wide. Before Carol even looked to see what had the other woman so stricken she swung the gun around and aimed it just as her eyes spotted a lone figure walking down the street with his arms raised in what looked like surrender.

She kept the gun trained on the man as he made his slow way towards them. She'd killed enough walkers by now to know that she was a decent shot. She wasn't as good as some of the men but out of all of the women the only one that had anything on her as far as aim went was Beth. She could drop the man from here and she knew it. But this was what everyone had been arguing about. This wasn't a monster. This was a man and he was alive and breathing. Until he made a move to prove he meant to harm her or the group she wasn't going to gun him down.

She heard feet pounding behind her. She lowered the gun as the man stopped, keeping his hands in the air. He was still a little bit too far away to identify yet. All she knew was that he wasn't one of them and that instantly caused her to distrust him.

Rick, Merle, Shane, and Oscar ran past her. Daryl stopped in front of her but kept his back to her. She peaked around him and saw the others approach to man with their guns raised. The guy went to his knees and put his hands behind his head. Rick was barking orders and Shane was actually cuffing the guy. Carol wasn't sure if this was precaution or protocol but the men worked together easily.

"What do you think he wants?" Carol asked as she placed a hand on Daryl's back.

He shook his head. "No idea. But we ain't takin' no chances of him bein' some sort of scout for that asshole."

Oscar pulled the guy up so he was standing and Daryl finally walked forwards, her and Lori following caughtiously. Once they got closer Carol could tell that whoever it was, she had never seen him before. He was short and skinny with a ridiculous mustache and eyes that were filled with fear.

"I ain't here to cause no problems. I promise. I left my group and stole a car to get here to warn you people. Just listen to me, please, and then you can do whatever ya want to me."

"Warn us about what?" Rick asked, taking on the role of the leader.

The man swallowed hard. "I was with another group. Bout thirty or so men. We'de been watchin' you people for a while..." He winced when Oscar's grip on his arms must have tightened, "before we left and then found that other place. Woodbury."

A chill that had nothing to do with the weather ran up Carol's spine and she reached out and grabbed Lori's hand.

"Keep fuckin' talkin'." Daryl growled dangerously.

The man nodded. "The guy that leads our group, he talked to this man there."

"The mayor?" Shane asked.

His head bobbed again. "That's what he says. Anyway, he met with us last night and Dave, he's the one we all kind of follow, he told the guy about this place. He described everyone here and that kind of excited the guy. He said that you all have a few things that belongs to him and he's recruitin' some of my group to help him come and get it."

"And you took it upon yourself to come all the way here to spill all of that to a group that you don't even know?" Shane scoffed. "Are you stupid or somethin'?"

The man shook his head. "You don't understand, man. This guy ain't right. I could see it right away. Dave is all for comin' here. He said he has a score to settle with someone here."

"Dave?" Daryl asked.

Carol was feeling sick now. Like things weren't already bad enough. They didn't have enough people to fight off an army like that. Michonne said there were a lot of survivors at Woodbury to begin with and now a large group of seemingly dangerous men were going to help Philip Blake come and take the town.

"Did he say what it was he wanted?" Rick asked.

The man seemed to get even more nervous. "He said his woman is here. His pregnant woman."

There was a heavy silence that hung in the air after that. Carol's mind felt slightly numb. Surely not. There was no way this could have anything to do with her. After everything that had happened with Jim what were the chances of it happening again?

"Did he give you a name for this mystery woman?" Oscar asked, his eyes flashing coldly.

The man bobbed his head once more. "Carol. He said that no matter what goes down, nothing can happen to her. He said to kill the rest."

"Jesus Christ." Shane whispered as he glanced up at her.

Daryl's arm went around her then, she didn't dare look up. It wasn't that she was afraid of what she would see on his face, it was more that she was afraid of what he would see in hers. She still had a hold of Lori's hand and felt her give it a gentle squeeze.

"You came all the way here alone?" Rick asked finally.

"No, some boy came with me. Said he wasn't gonna take no part in killin' people. He's hidin' out on the outskirts of town. He's from these parts. Mister, I'm tellin' ya. The only reason we came here was to warn ya about what they was plannin'. If you ain't welcomin' any newcomers then that's fine. If ya let me go we'll leave. No problem."

Carol swiped a few stray tears off her face. "What's your name?" She asked in a hushed voice.

He met her eyes and gave her a quick nod. "Axel, ma'am."

She gave him a weak smile. "I think it's time we get Buck and Blue."

Axel looked confused but Shane actually agreed with her. "Good plan. Oscar, you got find that boy and bring him in. We'll figure out what to do once we know more details."

Daryl didn't waste any time leading her away. She let go of Lori's hand and let him guide her down the street towards their building. She couldn't believe it. There had to be some sort of mistake. There was no way this was happening.

Philip Blake wanted her and he wanted her baby. And he had an army willing to kill to retrieve what he, in his twisted insane mind, considered his.


	11. Chapter 11

**Good morning! This one isn't as late but it is a little shorter. I hope you all enjoy this one. It's just a filler though so beware. I feel like most of these chapters have been fillers. littleshelly, I haven't forgotten what we talked about and I'm getting to it, I promise ;) Thank you all for reading! Have a great day!**

Chapter Eleven

Daryl slammed the door shut behind them and then he turned around and punched it twice. Unfortunately for him it was an old building with solid wood doors and his hand was left throbbing. When he spun around Carol was standing there staring at him with her hands on her hips, she wore a worried expression that ate at his gut.

"You shouldn't hurt yourself over this. We're gonna be just fine, okay." She held his gaze for a long time but the certainty in her expression did nothing to relieve the boiling anger that rolled through his mind. It was nearly blinding. He wanted nothing more than to make that man bleed.

He tore his eyes from hers and stormed into the kitchen. He didn't need to hear any more bullshit reassurances. He needed to get his ass to that fucking town, find that psycho bastard and make him suffer for the shit he had said. for the shit he wanted to do. Earlier he had thought it best to leave Woodbury alone for now. But shit just got real. He was going to that town and he would kill as many people as he had too until he got to Philip Blake and then he was going to kill that son of a bitch slow. He would, for the first time in his life, channel every single ounce of Buck Dixon's blood that pumped through his veins and he would make that man feel more pain than he could ever imagine.

He braced his hands against the counter and hung his head for a few seconds. He felt her arms slip around his waist and then her face press into his back. He put his hands over hers but realized they were shaking and then placed them back on the counter.

"We just have to keep ours eyes open. We'll be able to protect ourselves if he comes." She said into his shirt.

He turned around slowly and pushed her hair back from her face. "That ain't gonna happen." He said softly. "If they come here, we're dead. I'm goin' there."

Her eyes widened and she stepped back, shaking her head. "You can't do that, Daryl."

"I can't let him come here." He said firmly.

"How do you know that man is even telling the truth. We don't know him." Her voice was filled with fear.

"Then how'd he know your name? How the fuck could he have known you were pregnant? You said yourself we don't know him," He said angrily. He had to keep himself in check and not take this out on her.

"Daryl, please think about this. Maybe we can leave. We can find somewhere else to go..." She let her voice trail off when she realized that it wasn't going to happen that way. They had already tried to leave and there wasn't a way out. This was all they had.

He closed the distance between them and placed his hands on her hips. "It's gonna be fine, alright. Just don't worry about it." He didn't want her to get stressed out, even though they just got the news that every one of them were in danger. He knew his words were falling on deaf ears when she shook her head quickly.

He thought that she was going to argue and she had all the right in the world too. He remembered how he had felt just earlier when he had been arguing with Shane about all of this. She felt the same way he did but he couldn't risk waiting around for that man to come to the town and bring an army down on them all. But she didn't argue at all. She just put her head on his chest and stood there. She didn't cry either, which he had expected. She wasn't calm by any means. He could feel her own hands shaking on his back when she wrapped her arms around him, but there were no tears.

"We'll be fine." He muttered, hoping that he was telling her the truth. He wanted to leave now. He wanted to go to that town as soon as the sun set and then finish this. He knew that son of a bitch was no good the moment that Blue had decided he wanted to tear into the weird bastard. But they needed a plan. Going in there all fired up was a stupid move. But right now he had to make sure she was alright. She was his priority and from what that new guy said, Philip wasn't planning on doing anything right away.

"What are the odds of this happening to me twice?" She asked miserably. "I'm not very interesting. I've never been the type to draw too much attention to myself. Why the hell is this happening again?" She finally pulled her face away from his chest and looked up at him with sad blue eyes.

All he could do was shake his head. He had been wondering the same damn thing. Sure, to him she was fucking perfect. She was smart, beautiful, funny, kind, loving... he could go on for days, but she wasn't one that went out of her way to draw attention to herself. That was one of the things he liked the most about her. So the odds of having two freaks after her in a matter of months was pretty crazy. He could hardly believe it himself. "Are you scared?" he asked.

She met his eyes and seemed to be thinking about it before finally shaking her head. "I'm not letting this get to me. As crazy as it sounds I feel safe. You wont let anything happen to us. I know that. So I can't say I'm afraid for me but I can't help but be afraid for you. You have to promise me you wont do anything stupid."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Depends on what your definition of stupid is."

"Daryl, I'm serious." She groaned.

"So am I. If you think us doing something to him before he gets to us is stupid then I can't promise you that." He didn't want to scare her but he wasn't going to lie to her either and he wasn't going to make any promises that he couldn't keep. He had no choice but to try to stop this. He had to protect her and the baby.

Now it was her staring at him with narrowed eyes. "You don't have to be the one to do it. Buck and Merle and the others can go there. You don't need to go with them."

He hadn't planned on going with them before but now this was personal. If he didn't do something about this himself then Shane would have been right and Daryl couldn't let the others do this in his place. "I can't do that." He gripped her shoulders gently and then pushed her away slightly, dipping his head so his face was only inches from hers. "I can't do that. You're mine. The baby is mine. And you two are what the bastard wants. What the fuck kind of man would I be if I sat here with my thumb up my ass while the others went and fought for whats mine?"

She frowned. "For one, that is so sexist. For two, you would be_ alive_. Anything could happen to you out there. If we're your main priority then you should do everything you could to keep yourself alive."

"Carol, I have to do this." He muttered.

Finally she let the tears fill her eyes, filling him with guilt. But he really couldn't do it. He couldn't send the others there to do his dirty work. He didn't even want too.

~H~

Buck tried to keep his anger in check as the bumbling little idiot with the moronic mustache stuttered through the same story he had told the others. He was afraid, that was obvious, even though Buck hadn't done or said anything that would cause the man to be afraid.

The boy that had escaped with him was apparently orphaned after the dead started walking. He looked to be about thirteen years old and didn't say much at all even though Oscar tried to coax a conversation out of him. His name was Duane. He, too, watched Buck suspiciously. Blue took an instant liking to the both of them which, as stupid as it seemed, put everyone at ease. At the moment the man that called himself Axel was rubbing Blue behind the ears, using the dog as an excuse to not have to look at Buck.

"So you know for sure that the son of a bitch is after my son's woman? And_ my_ goddamn grand kid?" he was trying, but wasn't succeeding. He was speaking from between clenched teeth. He felt like the room was too hot as angered boiled through his veins. Axel shifted uncomfortably in the chair he was sitting in at Buck's kitchen table.

"If your son's woman is this Carol person he was talkin' about then I 'spose so, mister. I thought y'all needed to know. I didn't feel right takin' part in somethin' like that. I was with that group cause it was that or die and I didn't wanna die. But I had enough. I ain't a bad man. Not like they are."

Buck felt Andrea's hand on his shoulder and he tried to relax into her touch but he couldn't force his tense muscles to sink into it. "And you think it's gonna take'em a while to do this?" He asked.

To Buck's surprise it was the kid that spoke up. "I heard'em talkin'. They didn't know I was by the window. They wanna get more guns and ammo first. The man said that he's gonna do whatever he needs to do to take back what's his. He's a real freak."

Buck locked eyes with the boy. There was something about this kid that he liked for some reason. At first he hadn't been too thrilled about taking on the responsibility of someone so young but now he didn't think he would have that much of a problem. It wasn't like the kid was some little snot nosed toddler or anything.

Shane, Rick, Oscar and Merle were standing around the small kitchen while Michonne leaned into the doorway. Merle looked about as murderous as Buck felt. This wasn't just there group that was being threatened. This was some sadistic freak that actually wanted to take Carol and the baby and pretend they were his. That baby was blood and Carol was like his own. She was like a sister to Merle and he knew that Merle was crazy about the baby already. This Blake character didn't know what kind of fuse he had lit. there was going to be pain brought to that man. A lot of pain.

"Merle and Shane can go with me tonight to scope the place out. Daryl, Rick and Oscar can stay behind with the others." Buck said in a harsh voice.

Merle nodded.

"Hell yeah. This son of a bitch ain't gonna get his hands on her or that baby. I'll kill him myself." Shane was scowling.

"Not unless you have no other choice," Buck said as his eyes landed on Shane. "He's Daryl's. When this all goes down, he needs to be the one to end him."

Shane didn't look too happy at first but finally he nodded. "I guess you're right. But I sure as hell hope I find myself in a situation where I ain't got no choice."

"Jesus, Shane." Rick mumbled.

Buck liked Shane. He actually liked them both but Shane seemed to be the one that knew that this world called for a different type of man than who the two of them had been in the past. He was learning quickly. Rick was still a little stuck. He was a fine leader and a capable man but he wasn't cut out for the gory stuff yet. He would be eventually, Buck was sure. But right now he could tell that the thought of simply killing their enemy seemed to be a little extreme. But there wouldn't be anything he could do about it. It wasn't like Rick could march into town with a warrant and then arrest the asshole. Nope. The asshole had to die. And this would be Daryl's kill.

"So, do ya want us to leave?" Axel asked.

Buck gazed at him for a long time before making his decision. The dog thought the guy was okay and he had risked a lot to get here to warn them about Philip's little plan to execute them all and kidnap Carol. Hell, him and the kid coming all the way here had probably saved all their lives.

"There's a few extra apartments on the third floor. The kid can stay with me and Andrea. There's an extra bedroom."

"I can take care of myself." The boy snapped.

Buck gave him a level look. "You can make yourself at home here in this apartment or you can hit the fuckin' road, boy. It's up to you. I don't give a shit either way. But I ain't handin' over an apartment to some kid, ya got it?"

Duane looked like he wanted to argue but he finally nodded. "Yes sir."

Buck stood up then, causing Axel to stand up quickly himself and then nearly fell over when his feet somehow got tangled up in the chair legs.

"We leave tonight. Y'all need to make sure you're ready." Buck said as he watched the man steady himself.

~H~

"Tonight?" Sasha hissed.

T-dog and Tyreese both nodded.

"What about the biters?" She asked. "We don't even know for sure if those men were telling the truth."

T-dog frowned. "They wouldn't have made it up. There wasn't any reason too. And I'm tellin' you, the Dixon's took that town. My town. I'm goin' home, Sasha. The Dixon's are good men and I'd bet that they are the ones that took it. And it isn't just them either. There's others there and it's gotta be safer than this place."

"How do you know for sure it's these friends of yours and not some other sick freak?" Sasha argued.

T-dog sighed. Why was it so hard for this girl to just listen to him? They had all three heard the men talking before Philip had taken them someplace where they could discuss it without the rest of the town over hearing. The new groups leader had described Buck and the other two Dixon's. They had also mentioned that they were dangerous. He'd learned that most people had looked at them like that before but it really wasn't the truth.

"I just know, okay." He snapped, not meaning too. He was so tired of her questioning everything him and Tyreese had to say. "I know it's them and we'll be safe there."

"How safe are we gonna be when those things get a hold of us as soon as we go over that wall?" She snapped right back.

"They wont. All we have to do is get to one of those cars. They've let a whole lot slip when they're around me. I know where they keep the vehicles. All we have to do is make it to one." Tyreese said eagerly.

T-dog knew that he wouldn't leave either of them behind, especially not both of them. He really hoped that Sasha would jump on the band wagon with them and agree to this. He had a feeling that if he didn't get them out now, he wouldn't be able to at all.

When she finally nodded him and Tyreese shared a relieved look. They hurriedly started packing up things they may need and sat their bags by the door. They had hours to wait still but T-dog didn't even care about that. As long as he knew they were leaving. At the moment that was all that mattered.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi you guys. I hope some of you enjoyed that short story I wrote while trying to revamp my creative sequel juices! My lovely friend littleshelly0619 asked for a little something and I promised her I would try my hardest even though the romantic stuff is beyond me sometimes. I don't think I succeeded in delivering what she wanted but I worked on it. I made it more humorous than I was planning on. That's what I turn too when I get stuck on something. But thank her for this chapter because I was so lost until I got to thinking about her request. **

**I also want to thank everyone that voted for Saints and Sinners in Kaye's contest. It won best overall, best death and best mystery and I really appreciate you all for reading the story. I'm glad you liked it. There are so many unbelievable writers on this page so it's quite an honor to win. Especially when a lot of those writers, in my opinion, are flat out better than me. You all are the absolute greatest =) Not just for voting for me either. It's been a rough couple of months for a lot of us Carylers and it's so great of you to participate in something that I am sure made a lot of writers smile. Thank you!**

Chapter Twelve

Daryl watched as Buck, Merle, Shane and Michonne disappeared over the turned over truck bed. Andrea stood there, calm and dry eyed as she held Beth close. The girl had on a brave face but her eyes were shining with unshed tears in the moonlight. She'd have herself a breakdown later, he was sure. She refused to stay in the apartment across the hall. She was spending the night with her father and Milton who had one of the only first floor apartments.

Andrea was determined to go with them at first but Buck had convinced her, after the new information they had received, that she was needed there to help protect the others. She had grudgingly agreed.

Before Buck had left he had said his "see ya laters" to Andrea ad then had taken Carol's hand and peeled her from Daryl's side. They walked off a little ways. Buck actually knelt down in front of her so they were almost at eye level, her hands vanishing in his as he held them. Everyone watched but no one could hear what they were saying. Or more, what Buck was saying. Carol nodded a few times and smiled sadly. She was worried about them and it showed in her eyes.

When Buck let go of her hands he placed his own on her waist, sliding his thumbs down until they were brushing her stomach. Daryl had looked away after that, they all had, feeling like they were witnessing a moment too private for them to keep watching.

Once they were over the trailer and out of site they all made there slow way back to their apartments. Lori and Carol walked together in front of Daryl, Oscar and Rick, talking quietly and leaning into one another. Daryl found himself being grateful for Lori. This would have probably been a lot harder on Carol if she was the only one that was going to be forced to carry a child through all this crazy shit. Her and Lori were good for each other.

The wind was picking up and the chill in the air seemed to grow bitter, either that or it just seemed colder with Buck, Merle and Shane gone. Daryl wasn't too sure what to think of Michonne. She was like a force of nature that he wasn't sure would end up sticking around. The way the wild woman carried herself she had been born for this world. Just like Buck. Daryl couldn't help but wonder, if Andrea hadn't came along first, what might have sparked between Michonne and Buck. He shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets. That would have been one hell spawned couple. He was grateful for Andrea. She brought reason and patience to Buck without taking any of his shit. Buck and Michonne would have probably ended up killing one another.

Oscar stopped him and Rick in the hallway. Duane stopped with them, raising his chin in that way Carol did when she was refusing to take any shit from anyone. He had a feeling this kid was going to grow on him a bit.

Oscar looked down at him but then just shrugged. "We gotta figure out how we're gonna set up watch. I think me and Rick can handle night shift watch while Andrea makes rounds. We start now and then switch out at dawn. You and Milton can take watch while Beth makes rounds. They should get back sometime tomorrow.

"What about me?" Duane asked right before they were all about to split up.

Daryl scratched his chin and then shrugged. "You can take night shift with one of them. They can show you the routine. You ever been trained to use any weapons?"

Duane regarded him with a grateful look on his face. It was obvious that this kid needed to prove himself. "I ain't been trained but I'm a fast learner, sir."

Daryl nodded. "None of that sir shit kid, I'm only seven years older than you," he grumbled. "Oscar and Buck are the best we got when it comes to guns. You'll get your own tomorrow. Learn how to use it. You sure you can pull your weight around here?"

Duane nodded eagerly.

Rick cleared his throat. "You sure that's a good idea? He's thirteen years old."

Daryl snorted. "Worlds changed, Rick. My kid is gonna be shootin' before it's walkin'. It's the way things gotta be."

Daryl turned without another word and headed back to his apartment. Carol had went in ahead of him already and he was curious what Buck might have had to say to her before they left out tonight. When he went in he didn't find her in the living room or the bed room. When he walked by the bathroom he heard the shower going. He went to the kitchen and made them both something to eat. Tonight it was canned beef stew and toast. It wasn't a bad meal but he wished they had some healthier shit around here. At least she took her vitamins that Hershel had given her.

"You cooked. I'm impressed." She said from behind him.

He snorted and then turned around to face her, two bowls in his hand. He nearly dropped them both when he saw her. All she was wearing was a pair of low slung cotton pajama bottoms with a tank top that clung to her torso, that slightly prominent bump that he'd recently discovered on display now that it was just the two of them. There was a smile on her face but it didn't reach her eyes. He could tell that she had been crying. He handed her the bowl and she looked down, wrinkling her nose.

"I miss cooking," she said as she sat down a the small kitchen table.

He took the chair across from her and nodded solemnly. "Not as much as I miss you cookin'."

They ate in silence after that even though he was curious about what Buck had said to her. She stood up and took his now empty bowl and went to the sink. He couldn't help but let his eyes roam over her. She kept her back to him as she slipped a rubber band from her wrist and then raked her fingers through her hair, putting it in a loose ponytail. His eyes followed the graceful line of her neck down to her slender waist and then his mouth went a little dry when he noticed that there was just a little more flare to her hips than there had been before.

He kept watching her until she was finished with the dishes, just then realizing that he should have offered to help her instead of sitting on his ass in the chair and ogling her like a pervert. But these changes to her body had his head all fucked up.

His eyes drifted back up from her hips and was surprised, and a little embarrassed to find her looking at him from over her shoulder, a curious expression on her face.

"Daryl? I asked you a question." She raised her eyebrows. "Why are you blushing?"

He scoffed and finally looked away, which was hard to do because suddenly he was aware of how bright her eyes were, the red from her earlier crying was long gone. "I ain't blushin'," he grumbled without looking back up.

He heard her laugh quietly. "You are a strange man, Daryl."

"Shut up," he mumbled more to himself than to her.

"Are you tired?" she asked as she crossed her arms in front of her.

He glanced up and then shook his head. He figured he should be but he didn't feel very tired at all. "What did Buck say to you tonight?" he asked when he finally stood up and followed her towards the bedroom.

Her shoulders came up in a shrug as his eyes zeroed in on her hips once more. He followed that subtle sway and then swallowed hard. He didn't need to be thinking about this stuff right now. What he needed to think about was protecting her. Not having sex with her. But he couldn't help himself.

She went into the room and then sat down on the edge of the bed. She looked up at him and frowned. "He just told me not to worry. He said the three of you would kill anything or anyone that would try to hurt me or the baby."

Daryl nodded. "And that made you cry?" he asked curiously.

She blew out a heavy breath and laid her head on the pillow, bringing her knees up. "I don't want you three to be so focused on us that you end up getting yourselves hurt."

"It ain't the three of us that some psycho fuck wants for his own. We'll be fine. You keep stressin' like that and you could end up..."

She rolled over onto her back and put her hands behind her head. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "This kid's a Dixon, Daryl. Me stressing about stressful things isn't going to hurt her."

He frowned. "Her?"

She looked up. "What?" she asked, mirroring his frown.

"You said _her_." He went to the bed and stretched out next to her. "The only time we seen it it was a lizard. So how come you said her?"

She shrugged. "I don't really know. That's just what I keep seeing in my head. And stop calling it a lizard." She laughed and pushed his face away from hers. "It's mean."

"No it ain't mean. It's the truth." He grinned and then ran his hand hesitantly down her stomach, his heart beat picking up at the thoughts running through his mind. Somewhere right under his hand was _his_ kid. It was such a strange thought.

"I feel huge," her frown deepened when his hand slid under the shirt.

"You ain't huge. If ya started getting fat then Merle would tell ya."

The corner of her mouth turned up when she met his eyes. "You wouldn't tell me?"

"Pfft. Hell no." With the tip of his finger he drew a line from the waistband of her pants all the way up to the top of her stomach, lifting the shirt up as he went. She went to pull her shirt back down, clearly uncomfortable but he didn't let her. He grabbed her hand and then rolled so he was above her, careful to brace himself on his arms so he wasn't crushing her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, unable to mask the smile that threatened at the corners of her mouth.

He didn't answer her. Instead he kissed her. Her arms wound around his neck and she made a content sound in the back of her throat. He kissed her until she started squirming under him. That wasn't what he was trying to do. He wasn't trying to turn her on he was trying to show her that he still wanted her regardless of what was happening to her body. As a matter of fact he was pretty sure he was some sort of freak because those changes were driving him fucking crazy.

He settled between her legs, kissing her deeper. Her hands worked his shirt up as far as she could get it so he raised up onto his knees and stripped it off. Her face was flushed and her eyes were wide, brighter than he'd ever seen them before. Her gaze swept over him eagerly. He moved over her once more. Her hands went to the sides of his face, pulling him to her so she could kiss him again. He was braced on his forearms now, still being careful, her hands were on his shoulders and then, to his surprise he felt her pushing him down further.

His mouth went to the base of her throat, not sure what she wanted him to do but that wasn't it because she kept pushing. Then he knew and he couldn't keep the grin off his face as he slid down further. Her shirt was still pulled up most of the way and his lips met her skin. It felt hot under his lips. She didn't seem to be too self conscious now as he kissed a trail down the center of her stomach. His eyes shot up and locked onto hers as she watched him make his decent. He was reminded of that first time they had been together.

He was just bellow her belly button when he froze. What the fuck? He pressed his lips to the spot once more and felt it again. A slight nudge right there against his lips. He didn't move. He just kept his mouth there, amazed at what he was feeling.

"What the hell, Daryl!" She groaned after a while.

He lifted his head. "Did you feel that?" He asked, knowing his eyes were about to bug out of his head.

She rolled her eyes. "You haven't even _done _anything yet. Of course I didn't _feel_ anything."

To her dismay he rolled out from between her legs, all erotic thoughts gone as he placed his hand over the spot where his lips had been. He hadn't been expecting that. He didn't know that he would be able able to feel it moving. Hell, he'd been so worried about everything else that he hadn't even really noticed how big it had grown. How long had she been feeling this while he was too busy with other shit to even notice what the hell was going on with her?

It moved once more under his hand.

"Daryl?" He felt her hand in his hair and his eyes drifted up to meet hers. "What's wrong?"

He looked back down at his hand and then back up to her. He felt guilty that she had been pretty much going through all of this alone while he was busy securing the town and worrying about the walkers and going over things with the other men. And all the while she'd been strong and silent while all this crazy shit was happening to her right under his nose and she'd never said a word to him about it.

"Nothin's wrong." He slid back up and kissed her again. "It's movin'."

She smiled brightly, her face almost glowing in the lamp light. "It does that sometimes. Usually when I'm trying to sleep."

He brought his hand up slightly when she leaned over and kissed him again. This kiss was searing, making his breath catch in his throat. He moved his hand higher. He tried to get back into it but it wasn't easy.

She must have sensed it too because she pulled her head back, her eyes searching his. "What's wrong?" she asked again.

He blew out a breath and glanced down. "We can't do that," he whispered.

She frowned. "What?" her voice sounded hurt, like he'd slapped her.

He shook his head. "It's..."

"Spit it out," she said angrily.

"It's... awake. I can't put my... you know! In there!" he frowned when he saw that she was trying to hold in her laughter.

It didn't work. She covered her mouth and then let her head fall back onto the pillows as her laughter filled the room.

"Shut up," he grumbled as he flopped onto his back.

"Daryl. It's not gonna hurt it if..."

"I know that, Carol. I ain't stupid. That don't mean I can do that while it's movin' around in there. That'd be... fuckin' weird."

"So you aren't going to touch me for another five months?" She asked as she rolled over onto her side and ran her hand down his chest lightly.

He sighed. "I didn't say that."

"But that's what you're implying." Her hand drifted lower, her fingers slipping right below the waistband of his pants.

He didn't object so she drifted her hand inside a little further.

She moved so she was pressed against his side. "Fine. We don't have to do that. There's other things we can do." She wrapped her hand around him firmly. "Lot's of things."

He grabbed her wrist and rolled her back over, moving with her until he was hovering over her once more. She grinned up at him triumphantly. "You play dirty, ya know that?" He growled as he kissed her hard.

~H~

Buck yanked his knife out of the walkers skull, backing up as it crumpled at his feet. This was the first one that bothered him. as a matter of fact, no kill he had ever made bothered him as much as this kill did. She was a kid no more than twelve years old. A little girl. It was the first time he had hesitated and he hadn't been the only one. The other three hadn't wanted to kill her either so he had done it himself. He thought he was going to be sick. He wiped the knife off on his pant leg and then knelt down. She was wearing one of those braided bracelets. He didn't know why but he ripped it from her wrist and shoved it into his pocket.

The others didn't question him. He didn't know what he would have said if they had asked why he had taken the girl's bracelet. He motioned for them to follow. They hadn't encountered very many walkers so far and what few they did come across were taken out easily between the four of them.

They had driven most of the way, leaving the truck on the side of the road in a group of other vehicles so it wouldn't look suspicious if anyone from the town was out scouting for anything. They kept to the side of the road, talking very little. None of them were in the mood for chatting.

The closer they got to Woodbury the more walkers they encountered. Michonne wordlessly veered off into the trees and the rest of them followed wordlessly. This was where he handed over the reigns and let her take the lead. They ended up going through the woods to the back of a group of buildings. There was about a ten foot area that was only gated off by a chain link fence. The bottom right hand corner had been cut and then wired shut. She started untying the breach until it was big enough for them to fit through. Well, all of them but Buck.

Shane chuckled. "You big bastard."

Buck just glared at him for a minute and then looked up. The fence was about eight feet tall. He reached up and then heaved himself over the fence, landing heavily next to Shane, who was now gaping. He was getting too old for this shit. He should have sent Daryl to do this. He was a squirrely little bastard. But he needed to be home with Carol.

He hadn't thought they were actually going to be going into the town but he had told Michonne before that once they got there it would be her call. Now he just had to hope the crazy woman didn't get them all killed.

They stayed in the shadows, keeping close to the buildings, weapons drawn. He didn't care if he had to take out men but he wasn't sure about the other three. Merle had killed before but that was to protect Carol so that was different. The ally she led them down was narrow, brick walls going up four stories on each side of them. Faint light made it's way down from the street ahead of them. Not a bright light like street lights but the flickering light of a fire. He couldn't be sure what time it was but he figured it was pretty late. Michonne knew that the town had a curfew so they weren't as likely to run into any random people walking around.

Buck wasn't sure what the hell they were doing. This wasn't the plan at all. They were suppose to get close, check it all out, see how many men they had guarding and then take their information back home to evaluate it.

Once they were halfway down the ally he finally had had enough and he grabbed Michonne's arm, pulling her back slightly.

"What the fuck are you doin'?" he asked in her ear. "We wasn't even suppose to infiltrate the fuckin' town."

"You trusted me this far." She hissed, jerking out of his grip. "I wanna get the others. Sasha, T-dog and Tyreese. They're still here. We're already here. It'd be stupid to leave without them."

He was pissed now. He thought there was some kind of beneficial reason to get inside the town. He wasn't here to play the fucking hero. This wasn't a goddamn rescue mission. The bitch had used him for back up. She'd come here to get her friends out.

"When we get outta here, I'm gonna beat the fuck outta you lady. And I ain't even too fond of woman beaters." He growled.

The corners of her mouth turned up as her eyes narrowed. "Try it big man. I'll drop you like a stone," she threatened in that husky voice of hers.

He hated that this impressed the hell out of him. She was something else. He still thought she needed her ass kicked though, impressed or not.

They made their way to the mouth of the ally and looked around the corner of the building. What they saw had them all scowling in the direction of the wall. There were men everywhere. All of them armed.

Shane broke the silence. "There has to be about forty of them fuckers," he mouthed.

Buck cursed under his breath. He had been hoping that the goofy guy with the infuriating mustache had been exaggerating. Apparently he had been telling the truth. And it was actually a good thing that they had made it inside because most of the men were out on the streets and wouldn't have been able to be spotted from the other side. They never would have known what they were dealing with.

"What the fuck do we do now?" Merle asked. It was the first time Buck had heard him speak since they had left.

Buck shook his head. "Looks like we got ourselves a shit load of plannin' to do fellas."

They back tracked once more, keeping to the shadows. This was bad and Buck knew it. The man really did have an army now and it made his blood boil with rage to think that the man was after Buck's family. That bird wouldn't fly. That wasn't going to happen. That was his family and this Philip character was gonna learn the hard way not to fuck with what Buck Dixon considered his own.

No one said a word as they made their way back to the car. He wasn't sure how much he should tell the others once they got back. They were going to worry. They would worry a lot and there wasn't a fucking thing any of them could do about it for now. But he would do something. And he'd do it soon.


	13. Chapter 13

**Two updates in as many days! I'm proud of myself. I've been working on something that very few of you know about. I've been working on it for a while now and I'm 11 chapters ahead but I've been writing it really slow. It's my go to story when I can't get anything done with this story. It clears my head a bit. I would probably only update it about once a week. I'm not sure if I should start posting it or wait until I have more chapters under my belt. If you're interested then let me know! Anyway, this is a filler and I am not too fond of it but we're progressing slightly. If nothing else, at least it's something to read, right? lol Hope you all have a great day and thank you for reading! =)**

Chapter Thirteen

Carol sat Indian style in the middle of the living room floor. Despite the chill she felt like she was about to burn up. She was wearing Daryl's flannel pajama bottoms and one of her own old t-shirts that used to be loose on her but now clung to her like she'd bought it two sizes too small. She methodically cleaned her gun and then put it back together, making sure that it was loaded and ready to be used at a seconds notice. She slipped the strap over her shoulder and then went to stand up. She frowned.

"You can't be serious," she muttered, looking down at her distended belly. She leaned back bracing herself with her arms and then unfolded her legs, stretching them out in front of her. This was becoming a pain in the ass already and she wasn't even at the halfway mark. It hadn't taken too long to get Daryl to comply last night but she knew it was only going to get worse the bigger she got. It wasn't that he didn't want too. He just had a strange sense of ethics when it came to her and the baby. She laughed out loud thinking of what he had said the night before.

She was just about to work on figuring out how to get her oversized ass up off the floor when he walked in. His face was red from the cold. The wind had picked up and it made it much colder.

"Thank God." She mumbled.

He frowned. "Why are ya on the floor?"

"I was cleaning my gun and doing it on the floor seemed like a good idea at the time," she mumbled as she sat back up.

"And now?" he asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"And now I can't get back up."

He marched over and took her hand, pulling her up off the floor easily. "Ya might wanna come outside. We got some company." He said with a sigh.

Her pulse quickened just as she felt the blood drain from her face. Her hand instantly went to her belly as she stared at him with wide eyes.

"No! No, not anybody we gotta worry about," he said quickly, blowing out a breath and running a hand through his hair. "Jesus, ya think I'd be comin' in here all calm and shit if somethin' like that was goin' on down there? Jesus, think, Carol."

She finally found her voice. "Sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

"T-dog just showed up with a few others. That big fucker from Atlanta that you're buddies with and his sister."

Carol was shocked at this news. "How did they get out of Woodbury?" Michonne had already told them about the threesome she had left behind. Carol figured that was one of the reasons she had went with the men the night before. And the fight that was brewing between her and Andrea confirmed as much from what she could hear of it. She was pretty upset with Michonne herself but it wouldn't do any good to confront her. There was nothing to be done about it now. All Carol could do was be thankful that they hadn't been spotted and Michonne had been smart enough to not keep searching the town after they discovered all of them men that Philip had armed to the teeth. That was one place that wouldn't be easily taken.

"I didn't ask. I don't guess he's as worried about people getting out as much as he is about people getting in. Good thing for them. And us. We need more people."

She nodded. "I know. Have you guys talked about what we're gonna do?" She asked as she slipped a hoodie over her head and shoved her hands in the pockets of it.

"Ain't no we to it. You're gonna stay the fuck outta this one. You and Lori both." He gave her a hard look.

She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, cause that's what the dutiful pregnant women do when their big strong men tell them too? You're outta your damn mind. I plan on protecting myself Daryl. I'm not gonna get too far in this world if I spend the rest of my damn life hiding behind you."

"Ain't no sense in arguin' with me about this. If that's how you wanna take it then sure. You're gonna keep your ass hidin' behind me as long as that baby is in there. You ain't gonna go do somethin' stupid cause you got a point to prove. I ain't beyond lockin' your ass in a room till this is over."

Her mouth dropped. "I'm pregnant you jerk! I'm not an invalid. I can still shoot a gun. I can protect myself." She purposely put as much venom in her voice as she could. Did he really think that he could come in there and boss her around? She wasn't an idiot. She knew she couldn't storm Woodbury with guns blazing. But she also knew that she was a good shot. She could protect herself and the baby just fine. He was treating her like some kind of breakable thing. After everything she had been through nothing had broken her yet. She was stronger than he was giving her credit for and it pissed her off for him to imply otherwise.

He gripped her shoulders and stared at her, refusing to break the eye contact even when she narrowed hers and glared at him. "Don't fight me on this okay? You don't have to be involved in whatever the hell it is Buck comes up with. He don't want you involved."

She hated this. She felt strong and she felt capable and still Daryl and Buck looked at her like she was nothing but a child herself. She understood that they were worried about her and they were worried about the baby but what they didn't understand was that there wasn't time for worrying anymore. There was only time for surviving. She needed them to understand that she could protect herself.

"Carol?" he pleaded with his eyes.

"I love you," she said simply, causing him to blink in surprise. "I don't even think every language in the world has enough words to express how much I love you. Do you understand that?"

His eyebrows came together. "I..."

"But you don't own me. You aren't my keeper. I love you but I'm not, I _can't_ sit on my ass and watch my family do all the work just because they don't think I can. I'm your equal, Daryl. I'm not below you. I'm not hiding behind you. I can protect myself and I can help keep us safe."

His eyes went hard then and the look he gave her had her taking a step away from him. His nostrils flared. "I never pegged you for the type that'd put our kid at risk to prove a fuckin' point, Carol. But thanks. It's a real good thing to know." He growled and then he turned without another word, slamming the door so hard she could have sworn the windows shook.

Was that what he thought of her? That she would risk... but of course he did. That's how it had sounded. All she wanted him to do was understand that she needed to know how to protect herself. The prospect of something happening to him made her physically ill, but it was something she had forced herself to think about anyway. This new world was full of dangers that she had never imagined before and if a person wasn't prepared then they weren't going to make it. If something happened to him before it would have been different. She would have rather laid herself down and died with him than face a world he no longer existed in. But she couldn't do that now.

No matter what happened to the rest of them she had to fight. She had to survive. She couldn't only think about herself. She had a whole other life that she had to put ahead of everything else and here, in this world, she had no other choice than to force herself to be strong and to be capable. She would never learn how to do that if she spent her time cowering behind Daryl. And now he thought she didn't even care about their baby. How could he think that about her?

She felt the tears overflow while she stood there staring at the door. She felt sick as his words echoed in her mind. She walked slowly to the door, feeling more alone than she had in a long time. She felt tired, like she needed more sleep. But she kept on walking until she was out on the sidewalk in front of their building. The air was cold and the wind whipped her hair around her face. She wished she had grabbed something warmer but it was too late now.

She saw Tyreese standing with Buck and Andrea, Sasha and T-dog by his side. Everything looked calm although she felt like she was drowning in a sea of emotion. She glanced down the street and saw Daryl talking with Merle and Michonne. She opted to go see Tyreese and Sasha. She hadn't seen Sasha in years and she was happy she was here. Even though none of that happiness found its way into her thoughts at the moment. She still felt a little stunned.

~H~

Daryl watched her make her way towards the group huddled about a half a block away. She hadn't even bothered to make her way over to try to talk to him again and he really didn't blame her. He felt like a real piece of shit for saying that to her. The thing was, he was mostly pissed off about it because she had been right. He'd said what he said because he knew it would hurt her and he was pissed off and he was tired and he was stressed out beyond belief. All he could think about doing was keeping her safe. And all she could think about doing was keeping herself safe when he failed.

He shook his head angrily as he watched her go. He'd seen the sting on her face like he'd slapped her. And he'd turned around and stormed out just to rub salt in her wounds. What the fuck was wrong with him? He should have been glad that she wanted to be strong and take care of herself.

"Where the hell's your head at baby bro?" Merle asked.

Daryl glanced up at him. "What?"

Merle rolled his eyes. "I asked what you thought of Shane's suggestion?"

"What'd he suggest?" Daryl asked as his eyes drifted back towards Carol, who was receiving a drawn out hug from an over exuberant Tyreese. He scowled.

Merle punched him hard in the arm, forcing him to pay attention now. "He thinks we should start hiding out and pickin' off men as they go out on runs and shit."

Daryl frowned. "That ain't too bad a plan till that freak starts noticin' his people are disappearin'. I don't think it would work."

Merle was the one scowling now. "Well, what the fuck do you think then?"

Daryl shrugged and looked past Merle once more. Now the bastard had his hands on her stomach. He clenched his teeth together.

Merle finally looked over his shoulder to see what the hell had his brother's attention. He snorted when he caught sight of Carol and Tyreese. "Oh don't start actin' like an asshole. She's pregnant. Ain't no man gonna try to fool around with a chick when another man's kid's inside of her."

Daryl glared at him. "Shut up, dumb ass."

Michonne looked towards the others too and then shrugged. "We're really going to have to sit down and figure out what our next move is."

Merle elbowed her. "After that shit you pulled you should consider yourself lucky he didn't put a bullet in your brain."

They started walking towards the others. "He wouldn't waste the ammo." She deadpanned. "I think I'd have rather had a bullet in the brain than deal with Andrea anyway. She was pretty upset when she found out about it."

When Carol looked up and saw them heading in their direction she gave Tyrees's sister one more hug and then she hurried off. Daryl's heart sank. He'd really fucked this up. No one else seemed to notice her quick departure but he did. As she walked away, hands shoved in her pockets she was staring down at her shoes. He really wished he had thought before he had said that too her.

Buck was telling the newcomers where they could stay and what was expected of everyone. T-dog nodded towards him and he gave him a quick nod in return. He was different now. He wasn't the smiley joking man that had been to their house for dinner many nights, cracking jokes and making light of any given situation.

Daryl figured he had changed just like the rest of them had. The only person, as far as he could tell, that hadn't been altered by the event's of the last few months was Buck. He was still just Buck. The only difference was now he could kill whenever he wanted and didn't have to worry about getting locked back up for it.

~H~

Buck scratched at the back of his neck in annoyance as soon as he saw Michonne approaching them. He was still pretty pissed off over the stunt she had pulled. He should have kicked her ass for it but there were other things, more pressing, that needed his attention.

Everyone wanted to know what their next plan of action was suppose to be but he was at a loss. They had plenty of guns and ammo but they were still short men. Guns didn't do much good if you didn't have the man power to carry them. They wouldn't have much of a chance if they tried to ambush the town. They seemed to be loaded to the gills with guns of their own and, unlike his own group, they had the men they needed to protect the place.

"What's the plan, old man?" Merle asked when they finally made it over.

Buck blew out a frustrated breath and then shook his head. "I was hopin' one of you had a suggestion."

Merle shrugged. "Just what Shane offered earlier."

Buck looked past them towards the apartments. There was a fire escape on the side that went all the way up to the roof. That's how most of the old buildings were. He figured if they had to play defense the roofs would be a good idea. But he didn't want that. He didn't want the fight to come to him. He wanted to take the fight to them. He needed a plan and he needed it now. It wasn't going to take too long for that son of a bitch to come after them and he couldn't let that happen. Shane's idea was becoming more and more appealing.

Tyreese cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "What we need to do is take him out first and then that whole little army he has at his beck and call will fall apart. Some men need to be led. They strike me as the type. Without Philip they wont have a reason to come here. They'll be sloppy and easy to pick off."

Buck rolled the idea around in his head before he nodded. He hadn't realized he had shoved his hands into his pockets until he felt the bracelet clutched in his hand. That little girls face flashed in his mind and he had to shake the image from his thoughts and focus on what everyone was saying. He had no idea why killing that kid had been so hard. It hadn't even been a kid. It was a fucking walker and it needed to be taken out. "How often does he leave the town?" he asked gruffly.

Tyreese rolled his heavy shoulders and sighed. "Not as much as he used too. That's the problem, really. None of us can know when he'll be coming or going. We won't have any warning."

"What we need is someone on the inside." T-dog mumbled.

Buck nodded, running the bracelet through his fingers once more. The name that was braided into it running through his mind. "Well, I guess the only thing we can do is hope more people end up like you all. See how fuckin' crazy the son of a bitch is and decide to take off."

From the looks on the faces of the Woodbury escapee's, that wasn't a likely scenario. Couldn't blame a man for wishing though.


	14. Chapter 14

**I was finally able to finish this tonight! Hopefully you wont have to wait as long on the next one. No promises. Thanks for reading and also thanks for giving the other story a shot. Much love!**

Chapter Fourteen

Philip felt his control falter a little as he looked at the man standing in front of him. He was the leader of the huge group that had moved into Woodbury. A group that was all Philip could have hoped for, except this man was really stretching his nerves.

"Look, Dave. I know that you and your group are pretty valuable around here. You all have the know how and you have the guts to keep a place like this safe. But you need to control those men of yours or I'm not gonna have a choice but to ask you send them packin'. At least the ones that are havin' a hard time keeping their urges under control."

Dave propped his feet up on Philip's desk and leaned back in the chair. The small smile on his face had Philip clenching his fist in anger.

"Look, Your Majesty," Dave sneered, "I don't have a thing to do with what those men do. They ain't my men. You say this is your town. You seem to be the one in charge. Handle it."

Philip felt this blood begin to boil. He knocked Dave's filthy boots off his desk and then leaned down into the man's face. "You handle it. I let you in here because we have a mutual goal. Surviving. Your men terrorizing the women in this town isn't gonna fly. You do somethin' about it or you're all out."

Dave held up his hands in surrender. "Alright. You're the boss. But just remember. You need me. You want Dixon's woman and kid for yourself then you need our help. I don't claim those men but those men claim me. If I go, so do they. You think you and your six crony's are gonna get the job done?"

Philip jerked away from the man. How did he know that Carol was pregnant with the younger Dixon's baby? He hadn't realized that anyone from the new group would know the truth. As far as all the men around there thought, Carol and him had been separated and he needed to get her and the baby back. But if Dave knew that Carol had never been his to begin with then who else knew?

Dave must have seen something in Philip's face because he smiled and then stood up from the chair. "You look a little taken aback, Phil. Did you really think I wouldn't know what your plan was? I know the Dixon's pretty well. I've even met Carol a few times. Feisty one, she is. Wouldn't mind takin' her for a little..."

"Stop it," Philip roared. He grabbed Dave by the shirt front but Dave's grin only widened.

"Alright," Dave said with a sigh, "I'll tell the boys to watch themselves. And we'll work out some way to get the girl. But you gotta understand, Phil. Me and you, we're partners here."

Philip let go of his shirt front and took a step back. "We have some planning to do then. I want to get her here before the weather gets too bad. She'll be under enough stress as it is. I don't want anything happening to her or that child."

"You sure you wanna risk taking her now? I mean, the trauma could cause all sorts of complications for her. She could lose it. And I don't think you understand what's gonna prove to be the hardest part of this little mission."

Philip glared. "What are you talking about?"

"Buck Dixon." Dave laughed and the sound had Philip biting his tongue. "He's a maniac. You wanna talk about a sick and twisted individual, he's the worst. Me and my men," Dave shook his head and looked towards the window, "we got nothin' on that brute. And from what I hear, Merle ain't far removed from the old man."

"I'm getting Carol away from them. Her and that baby aren't staying there."

Dave nodded. "I spose we need to get ourselves a plan worked out then."

~H~

"Go talk to her, dumb ass." Merle muttered as he nailed another board over the bottom window of one of the stores.

"She ain't talkin'. I ain't beggin'. I told her I was sorry and it didn't work," Daryl grunted as he held up another board so Merle could get it hung.

Merle was tired of the tension. This shit had been going on for over a week and he was sick to death of it. Carol seemed completely miserable and Daryl seemed on the verge of some kind of breakdown and it wasn't getting any better.

"You to proud to beg?" Merle asked before he stuck a few nails in mouth.

"No I ain't. But I don't see why I'd have too. You should talk to her or somethin'. Tell her she's actin' like a fuckin' kid."

"I ain't the one that planted a seed in her belly ya jackass. Ain't my fuckin' place to talk to her."

He could feel Daryl glaring at him but he didn't care. He wouldn't admit to the boy that he'd already tried to talk to her and she'd clammed up as soon as he asked how her and Daryl were doing. He hadn't tried to talk to her about that since.

"I'll try again tonight," Daryl said miserably.

Merle hammered in the last nail and then hopped down from the step ladder he had been standing on. Buck wanted all the lower windows for every building covered up just in case. One entrance and exit for every building. They had been working on devising plans for if they had to make a quick exit. Tyreese, Oscar and Buck were at the other end of town, securing the building there while Merle and Daryl handled these buildings.

"Are the two of you even sleepin' in the same bed?" Merle asked. "Ya know, there's things you can do that would probably speed along your recovery little brother."

"She's been sleepin' on the couch. She wont listen to a fuckin' thing I say. I don't know. I ain't tried in a few days."

"Are you stupid or somethin'? You fuckin' try till she gives in." Merle shook his head.

"Ain't that easy, Merle." He growled as they made their way down the street towards the apartments.

"Yeah it is. Me and Beth don't fight about shit." It was true. Merle and Beth got along pretty good. Better than pretty good actually.

"You and Beth get on my fuckin' nerves," Daryl grumbled as he kicked a rock down the middle of the street.

Merle was going to give him some shit for that one but the kid looked miserable. Maybe he should give talking to Carol another shot. It was bad enough they had to deal with Buck acting all weird. He didn't need Daryl going to pieces on him when he needed him most. None of them could afford to go to pieces at all anymore. It was suck it up, or die.

"What the hell is wrong with Buck?" Daryl asked, like he could read Merle's mind.

Merle shook his head. "You got me. Ain't been right since we came back from Woodbury."

"You think it's got somethin' to do with all the men and fire they got over there?"

Merle shook his head again and gazed down the street. Buck Tyreese and Oscar were walking towards them. Blue was hot on their heels. "Nah. That shit Buck can handle. I think it might have been that kid he took out. Didn't none of us wanna do it but you know Buck. Dumb fucker."

"Y'all took out some kid?"

"Walker," Merle nodded. "Pretty sure it fucked with his head a bit for some reason."

Merle and Daryl stopped there in the street and waited for the other three men to make their way to them. Axel came out of the apartment building and was coming towards them as well.

"Son of a bitch," Daryl groaned.

Merle laughed. Buck was now wearing the same expression that Daryl was wearing. Not many of them were warming up to the odd little man. Oscar thought he was a real hoot and the women thought he was pretty funny but the men basically tolerated him like you would a dullard cousin or something. Daryl especially disliked him since the man had taken a liking to Carol. Everyone tried to tell him that it wasn't something he would ever have to worry about. Merle was pretty sure the man wasn't interested in her like that. She was obviously pregnant and even though they hadn't acted like it in over a week now, she was very much spoken for already. Hell, Merle had even caught him checking Beth out but it didn't bother him. Of course Axel damn near pissed his pants when he'd caught his eye and gave him a wink. He'd been staring at her ass for a solid minute while she stood around with the other women talking about whatever the fuck it was they talked about now days.

Merle couldn't fault him for that. Beth had a hell of an ass on her.

"You fella's need any help?" Axel asked.

Merle threw his arm over the man's shoulder and laughed. "Do you do that shit on purpose? You always show up when the hard stuff is done, you ever notice that?"

Axel ducked out from under Merle's arm and shoved his hands in the pockets of his brown jeans. Merle always wanted to ask him where the hell he had found brown jeans but figured that would be mean and then Beth would give him shit for it.

"I had to help Hershel. He's gittin' a room ready for when the women have them babies. I did a little liftin' for him."

Daryl cocked an eyebrow. "You?"

Axel glanced down the street. "Well, me and Milton."

Merle and Daryl shared a look and then they both shook their heads.

Buck approached them then. Tyreese and Oscar had gone somewhere else. Merle hadn't noticed where they had gone. The look in Buck's eyes was something they were growing used too. He didn't act much different or sound much different anymore. It was just his eyes. There was a haunted look that neither of his boys had ever seen before.

Merle didn't know if it was something Andrea and Buck had talked about but he knew the woman had to have noticed it. It wasn't like it wasn't obvious. Something had changed in the man. Merle just couldn't tell yet whether it was a good change or a bad change.

"Me and you are goin' out, Merle," he said as he gazed past them towards the other end of town.

Merle wasn't opposed to going on runs but the fucker didn't have to be so goddamn vague. "You gonna tell me where the fuck we're goin'?" he asked. He was getting pretty tired of everyone acting so weird. His brother and Carol, Buck, Axel. Well, Axel was just weird anyway but still. The other three needed smacked in the head or something.

"Hershel was goin' through some of his things in the clinic. He ran across a portable ultrasound machine but it didn't work. He'd like to have one so he could keep a closer eye on Carol and Lori. Make sure everything's good."

"What's that got to do with us?" Merle asked, getting more irritated.

"Hospital about an hour from here would have them. They'd have everything else they'd need too. Might as well get that shit early. Hit some more places and stock up on formula and shit while we're at it."

Merle frowned but Daryl was the one who spoke. "Why the hell would we need that? It'd be a waste of space since they're both pretty much equipped to feed babies, Buck."

Buck met Daryl's eyes with a hard look. "Not if they end up dead."

Daryl and Merle both took a step back at the same time, like they could distance themselves from his words. "What the fuck's wrong with you?" Merle nearly snarled at him when he glanced at Daryl and seen that his face had gone very pale.

Buck shrugged. "People die, boys. That ain't changed. We lose Carol and Lori both what the fuck are we gonna do to feed the fuckin' kids? Huh? Or do we just stand the fuck around and act like that ain't a goddamn possibility? Say by the time the babies are here the whole goddamn planet is swarmin' and we ain't got a way out. You wanna watch'em starve if they ain't got no mama?" Buck spit on the ground and then glared at them both. "The time for wishful thinkin' is over, you got me? Man the fuck up or put a bullet in each others brain. We ain't got time for hopin' things go how we want."

Merle was pretty sure Daryl was going to throw up. He looked a little green around the gills. He was gaping at Buck and even Merle was speechless.

Buck just shook his head and looked at the ground. "I shouldn't have said that shit," he mumbled.

Daryl turned without a word and headed towards the apartments, head down and shoulders slumped. Axel had hightailed it as soon as Buck raised his voice.

Merle and Buck both watched him go. Merle couldn't even stand to look at Buck at the moment. Until now the thought of the women not making it had never even occurred to Merle. He'd been worried about whether or not the baby would be okay. He'd even been worried about Lori's up until a week or so ago. But he hadn't even let the thought take root that they might lose Carol. From the look on his little brother's face Daryl hadn't thought about that either. It left Merle feeling cold inside. He could only imagine what it must have done to Daryl.

"You're a real son of a bitch, you know that?" Merle snapped before he turned his back on the man. This wasn't going to be a pleasant run at all. He could already tell.

~H~

Daryl felt like he was going to be sick. It had been a long time since he wanted to bash Buck's face in but that was how he felt now. He hadn't thought of losing her. He'd spent all this time worrying and he never once consider that she could be in more danger than their baby could be in.

He went inside, not really expecting her to be there yet. She usually spent most of her time with Lori or Tyreese and his sister. She came home when it was time to eat and then she usually sat on the couch and read until she fell asleep. The first time it had happened he had woken her up to come to bed but she had only pulled the afghan down over her and closed her eyes again. That had been a week ago and she slept there still. He had offered to give her the bed but she had simply shook her head. She didn't talk to him. She avoided touching him. Hell, she barely looked at him at all.

He went back to that day over and over in his mind but he couldn't remember saying anything so bad that it would make her hate him. And that's what this felt like. And in less than five months she could be dead. He flinched at the thought, feeling more sick. Surely Buck was wrong. Hershel was always going on about how healthy she was. He was always reassuring both of them that as far as he could tell everything was going as well as it possibly could. He had been worried about Lori but even that was over now.

He jumped when he heard the bedroom door close. He thought he was alone in the apartment. She came around the corner and stopped in her tracks when she saw him, her eyes only meeting his briefly before she looked past him at the door. He didn't miss the bag she had slung over her shoulder.

"Rick has watch tonight. I told Lori I would stay and keep her company," she said quickly before stepping around him.

She was leaving. Sure, it was to keep Lori company now but what about tomorrow night? What about the night after that? What the fuck had he done that was making her leave? And that was what this whole thing was. She had spent the week distancing herself more and more and now she was going to walk out the door, down the hall, and maybe stay there for good for all he knew.

_Five months..._

That quiet thought that drifted through his mind had him reaching out and stopping her. When she tried to pull her arm out of his grasp he tightened his fingers, causing her to freeze and finally look up. He dropped his hand from her arm.

"Why are you doin' this?" he asked. He didn't sound angry. It was just a question.

"Rick's on watch and I tol..."

"That ain't what I'm talkin' about." He cut her off before she could come off with that same lame excuse.

"Just let me by please," she said quietly, not looking up. She didn't sound like herself. She sounded broken down and tired.

"You have to fuckin' talk to me. We can't keep doin' this. I can't keep doin' this. I said I was sorry, alright?"

She didn't look up. She didn't say a word. She just stood there and waited for him to move out of her way.

"Carol..."

"I don't want to do this. I just want to leave." She still didn't look up.

"You ain't leavin'. This is fuckin' cra..."

"Fine, Daryl," she said in that same tired voice. She turned around and sat the overnight bag down by the couch. He noticed that it was a lot fuller than it would have been if she was going to be gone for just one night.

She reached for the book she had sitting on the table and sat down on the couch, opening it to the page she had dog eared to mark her spot. He watched her. She didn't make another move to try to leave the house. Buck had told him when this had first started that pregnancy hormones made women act insane. Was that what this was? Hershel had even nodded along when Buck was telling him about that. What he had said to her was awful and he hadn't even meant it. He had simply been trying to get through to her.

"Carol..."

"Don't," she said quietly, glancing up at him and then back down to the book in her lap.

His heart sank. They had to fix this and she was being so fucking stubborn that she may as well have been a Dixon. She was going to listen whether she wanted too or not. He was tired. He was tired of her treating him like he didn't mean a damn thing to her anymore and he was tired of being afraid something was going to happen to her and he was tired of her not fighting harder.

Before he had been livid at the way she had been acting. Like she could do everything that the rest of them could. But he'd take that Carol any day over this one. This one had no fight in her at all. That quiet "don't" she had just muttered was the most fight he had seen in her in over a week and it was driving him insane.

He stormed over to the couch and crouched down in front of her. She kept her eyes on the book but they weren't moving. He wondered if she had read a word of it at all. It didn't matter now. He snatched it out of her hand and threw it over her head. She was going to fight. She was going to stop burrowing into this fucking shell she had created for herself.

Her eyes met his, dull and compliant.

"Stop." His voice was harsh and loud and in the stillness of the room.

Her feet were tucked under her but she tried to move away from him to the other side of the couch. She still wasn't fighting back. He needed her to snap out of this. He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to stay where she was.

"Leave me alone, Daryl. I'm doing everything you want me to do. What the hell do you want from me?"

He heard the spark of anger in her voice but it still wasn't in her eyes. He wanted her to let this go. Tell him she forgave him for what he said and move the fuck on. That was what he wanted. He wished he could take back what he had said. If he had known she was going to react this way then he never would have said it. Not in a million years would he have thrown those words at her.

"I want you to stop acting like this," he said dully, "I wanted you to let me handle things for now, I never said that I wanted you to fuckin' give up. You act like a goddamn walker. You don't say a word, you look at me like you see right through me. You know how long it's been since I've even touched you at all?"

She stared at him, her blue eyes turning to ice. When she spoke her voice was just as cold as her eyes were. "After what you said to me... after the things you implied..." she shook her head angrily, tears brimming and overflowing so fast the pain nearly brought him to his knees. "If you can think that about me then you don't know me at all. If you think I care more about proving a point than..." she stopped and then shook her head. "Just get away from me, Daryl."

This wasn't going the way he had hoped it would. He couldn't believe that just those few words he had uttered in anger could be what undid them. And if it could, after everything they had been through up until this point, then maybe she didn't feel the same way about him as he did her. From the moment he backed into her fucking car she had seared herself into his bones. And now she wanted him to get away from her?

He rocked back on his heels and nodded. "Alright. You win, okay. Go ahead and get your shit and go to Lori's. If that's what you want then I ain't gonna stop you. I quit. But don't you even think about keepin' that kid from me. You do what you want but that's mine."

She shook her head, her large eyes overflowing again. "I wouldn't do that. Just like I wouldn't kill it to prove a fucking point," she stood up and went for her bag, leaving him still kneeling in front of the couch, the shock of what was actually happening causing his insides to feel like they were being shredded.

This was what he had tried to protect himself from. Caring, loving, letting people in. All it did was cripple you in the end. He felt those walls coming up, trying to shield himself from the assault on his heart. He'd gone almost all of his life knowing that he shouldn't trust people. This was just something else to prove that. It cemented it in his mind. He didn't need her to go on. He didn't need anything or anybody else. But whether she liked it or not, he meant what he said. That baby was the only thing keeping his head from unraveling at the moment. If not for the reality of it he wasn't so sure that he would have been able to stomach sticking around and looking at her every day.

He tried not too but he looked up as she reached the door. She stood there with her hand on the knob but not leaving yet. She turned slowly, tears still falling freely.

"How could you think those things about me? Just tell me that, okay. It's all I want to know. How?"

He stared at her until she finally just shook her head, her face falling before she went for the doorknob once more. He let her go. Not knowing why but knowing he wouldn't beg her to stay. He wasn't going to beg someone to care if they simply didn't anymore. Maybe it was the hormones. Maybe it was that she didn't give a shit anymore. Either way, she could go if she wanted. And it was clear she wanted to go.

But then he thought about what Buck had said earlier and his heart started hammering in his chest. What if she didn't make it? What if the baby killed her? He didn't truly believe that it would happen but there was always a possibility. He sprinted to the door. She had asked him how he could think those things about her. She had been willing to talk to him then.

He threw the door open just as Lori opened hers to let Carol inside.

"Carol!" he nearly shouted, causing her to flinch.

She looked at him, her face a tear streaked mess. He marched down the hallway and was about to drag her back to their apartment so they could finally clear this bullshit up. He couldn't see himself avoiding her for five months and then something happen to her. He had a lot to work out in his own head but he had to make this right with her. No matter how afraid he was of the pain she could cause him, he still had to try. He stopped in his tracks when he was halfway to her. A sound from outside causing them both to freeze for all of two seconds before he ran to her.

A scream. Most definitely female, most likely Beth Greene since she was the one on watch on the south wall. It wasn't the scream that had frozen him, the scream had made him mobile once more. It was the gunshot before the scream that had turned him to stone.

He grabbed Carol by the elbow once he reached her. Her eyes were large, terrified. "Roof! Both of you!" He shouted, just to make sure she heard him.

He was about to bolt for the stairs when she stopped him. "No!"

"Carol! Goddamn it! Go!" He hissed.

"I'm sorry," she said in a rush. "I'm so sorry okay? Please go with me."

He blinked in surprised. "Get your ass to the roof. I'll be up there soon."

She shook her head and didn't let him go. He kissed her quickly. He'd go back for her as soon as he figured out what was going on out there. More shots had him pulling away. "You can cover us from up there, remember. You and Lori. I gotta go."

"I love you, okay. You have to know that."

He looked at her for a few more seconds that felt like minutes. He nodded. "Go."

She ran, Lori on her heals, towards the stairs to the roof. She'd be okay. They'd all be okay.


	15. Chapter 15

**This is running away with me a little bit. Things I never had planned to happen are happening but I'm just going along with it! Hope you all have a great weekend and thanks for reading and reviewing! =)**

Chapter Fifteen

Buck wasn't sure what the hell he was looking for. Hershel had described the thing to him and told him where in the hospital to find it. There were also other things written on a list that him and Merle might need to grab. Him, Merle and, unfortunately Michonne, had bashed their way through more walkers than he could even count before they reached the doors.

The hospital was intact for the most part. Unfortunately it had fallen quickly and the patients must have been abandoned. Those that died inside had fed on those that were stuck in their beds and it was all a huge mess. The smell was something else and the amount of walkers inside gave them no choice but to have to use the guns.

There were so many they had nearly exhausted what ammo they had brought and they still had to get back out. The gunfire had surely attracted more walkers but he had a job to do and he was going to do it. After what he said to Daryl today he wasn't going back without one of those machines and every other fucking thing on Hershel's list. He didn't know why he had said it. Other than the fact that maybe it wasn't a bad idea for him to think about all of the possibilities. The boy had to prepare himself for every possible outcome and although Buck thought that losing Carol was unlikely, not with all of them there to help her through it, it wasn't an impossibility. Better to be prepared.

He was grabbing random shit from the list now. He was pretty sure he had grabbed everything they were going to need for the machine Hershel needed. He was almost glad that Michonne had tagged along. If it had just been him and Merle it would have taken several trips. She covered them once they made it out the doors. Just like he suspected there were walkers swarming the place.

"We're gonna have to go back inside!" Michonne yelled over her shoulder after she opened fire on the first wave of walkers.

"Fuck that." Buck growled as he shoved his way past her, shouldering his heavy load and blasted more walkers away. He wasn't staying here. He had people back home that needed him and he'd be damned if he was going to hole up and wait for days for everything to clear. Anything could happen and he needed to be there to keep them safe. He had a bad feeling swirling around in his gut and it didn't have a damn thing to do with the rotten assholes in front of him.

~H~

Daryl flew down the stairs and nearly plowed through the doors leading to the sidewalk. Tyreese and Shane were running towards the south wall where the others were already gathering. He saw Rick climb up to the top and then disappear over the other side.

What the fuck? He sped up once he heard gunfire break out over the wall. T-dog was the next to go over, joining Rick in whatever fray was going on on the other side. What the hell were they doing? They knew they were suppose to stay behind the walls no matter what. That was the plan.

Something occurred to him then and he slowed down, grabbing Shane as he did. Everyone was gathering around the south wall, which left the north wall exposed. Anyone could get in from that side.

From the look on Shane's face he thought the same thing as soon as they were stopped. Without a word they both took off at a dead run back the way they had come. Two men they didn't recognize hopped down and then seemed to freeze at the site of the two of them.

How many more had came in from that wall? And how long would it take those men to find Carol and Lori?

Shane opened fire before Daryl could even bring his gun up. He didn't kill the men. He shot them low, a spray of bullets cutting into their upper legs, dropping them both. Their screams blending with the shots still being fired from the south end.

No one else tried to enter over the wall but that wasn't the only place they could come through. They should have devised a better plan but everyone assumed it would take Philip longer to come for her. But here they were. And they were missing three of there strongest fighters.

Once they reached the wall neither of them hesitated to disarm the men writhing on the ground. Daryl hoped they didn't die soon. He had questions for them. Lots of questions. And then they were going to die. He was going to make sure of that.

"They can't get inside without getting in through the front doors of any of these buildin's." Daryl panted as he looked around for any other unfamiliar faces.

"Where's Lori and Carol?" Shane asked, his face a mask of fury.

Daryl didn't say anything but he motioned to the roof of the apartment building with his eyes. Shane nodded.

"One of us need to stay in front of them doors, man." Shane said as his eyes roamed around once more. "One of us can circle around and see if anyone else made it in."

Daryl nodded and without a word ran towards the apartments while Shane went the other way. He still didn't see anyone else but that didn't mean anything. They could be hiding, guns trained on him or any of the others right then, ready to gun them down. He'd never be able to make things right with Carol. He'd never get to meet his own kid. He'd never get too...

Movement out of the corner of his eye had him glancing over just as a man emerged from between two building right across from the apartments. He faltered as the man brought his gun up, grin on his face, and aimed it right at Daryl before he could even raise his own.

He heard gunfire and expected to feel the impact of the bullets but he felt nothing. The man crumpled to the ground. Daryl's eyes flicked up to the rooftop where Carol and Lori were. Carol gave him a swift nod and then disappeared. He took off once more, barreling into the building. To hell with standing in front of the door while everyone else fought. If Carol could play sniper then he could too and then he'd be there to make sure her and baby were fine.

He took four flights of stairs two at a time, running on adrenalin, rage and desperation to get to her. He didn't even feel winded when he finally crashed through the door, even though he was gasping for breath. At first he didn't see them but the sound of gunfire had him running around the wall of the small access enclosure.

Lori and Carol both were shooting at something below, behind the building.

He ran to the front and looked down. His eyes slid over to the north wall and his heart sank. Even from there he could see that someone was down. One of their own. Beth.

Hershel and Maggie were knelt over her, Hershel seemed to be in the zone working frantically over the girl. That was all Daryl could see. For Merle's sake he just had to hope that she was okay. He scanned the street below and squinted as he studied the shadows between the buildings. He didn't see anyone. His own people were scattered. This couldn't be good. He knew there were at least forty men that Philip had, probably at his disposal. Did he send them all? Was this the big attack he had been planning?

He turned back around at the same time Lori did, she raised her gun quickly but then dropped it when she saw it was only him. He was impressed. She looked fierce. She'd changed a whole lot since this had all started. He figured they all had. He looked over the edge and saw bodies. There were seven total, none of them theirs.

"They were coming in from a breach in the back fence. They must have cut it. It wont take long for walkers to find it." Lori said in a rush.

Carol finally looked up when Lori spoke and didn't hesitate. She threw herself at him, hugging him tightly. He felt a little of the tension drain from him as he wrapped his arms around her. One of them could have been killed, most likely him, and he never would have felt this again.

"We need to get down there. I think it's over," Lori said quickly as she hurried towards the door.

"No," Daryl let go of Carol just in time to grab Lori's arm and haul her away from the door. "Not yet. You ain't goin' down there till they give the all clear."

She glared at him. "My husband is down there. I'm not waiting around anymore. We've killed most of them. We can take out the rest on the street."

"Lori, he's right. We don't know how many are left out there. We need to stay," Carol said calmly.

Lori's eyes grew hard as she stared at her friend. "It's easy for you to say while you have him right here," she snapped.

Carol shook her head. "He's going back down. Aren't you?"

He looked at her with wide eyes. She didn't seem to be angry anymore. Her eyes were wide and clear, determined. "Go. Come for us when it's safe, okay. That's the plan. We'll cover you."

He nodded and then kissed her, much too quickly. Before he took off down the stairs she stopped him. He turned around, already dreading leaving her there. If he didn't go now he wouldn't go at all.

"I'm so sorry. You were right."

He nodded. "Me too," and then he bolted down the stairs, not looking back again, just in case all of his resolve crumbled around him.

~H~

Carol gripped Lori's hand firmly and dragged her to the ledge facing the main street below. They both had their guns at the ready as they peered down, watching for anyone that may pose a threat. She thought she would have felt worse about killing a man. She felt nothing. The man was going to kill Daryl if she hadn't stopped him and the thought of him in danger had filled her with so much fury that she understood then why he had tried so hard to keep her safe. She knew that as long as she was fine that the baby was fine too. But he had them both to worry about constantly. All she had to worry about was him. How could she have treated him so badly when the only thing he wanted to do was keep them alive? It was that moment she knew why he had said what he said that day. He hadn't said it because he believed it. He had said it so she would realize that the baby was what mattered now. She had to stay safe, stay alive.

She didn't see anyone on the street below.

"Carol." Lori grabbed her arm and pointed.

She looked down and saw Daryl running towards Tyreese. He had Beth in his arms, her body limp as a dish rag.

"Oh, God. Do you think..."

Lori shook her head. "No. She isn't dead. She can't be dead. Don't even think it."

Carol could hear the tears choking Lori's voice and she had to look away from Beth's limp form in the big mans arms.

Merle.

If Beth didn't make it then what would happen to him. He'd come so far. He was so different now than the man she had first met and she knew that Beth was big part of that. She blinked back the tears and kept her eyes open for any threat that may be hiding in the shadows.

"I don't see Rick, Carol." Lori breathed.

"He's down there. Rick's strong and he's smart and he's just fine. We have to keep our heads up here. Neither one of us can break down and you know it," she said in a calm voice as she scanned the street and beyond. "Keep your eye on that south wall. I'm gonna go check the back again. That's where they were all trying to come in. they weren't expecting us to be up here." God, how many men had she killed today?

Lori just nodded, eyes drifted to the south wall and then narrowing, gun ready for whatever may appear. Carol was proud of her.

She hurried over and peered down but there was nothing but the bodies, and Shane. Shane had found the breach in the fence and was now trying to wire it shut but there were walkers trying to push through.

She aimed and let loose a spray of automatic fire on the walkers, dropping the ones closest to Shane.

"Lori!" She yelled over her shoulder. "Yell down for someone to go around to help Shane! Now!"

She shot more walkers while he tried to secure the back fence but it didn't seem to be an easy feat. He struggled against the masses and no matter how many she killed more showed up. And of course when reinforcements came to help him it had to be Daryl and Axel. He should have been back on the street where it was safer.

She kept up her walker killing spree as the three of them finally got the fence repaired. At least good enough for now. When Buck got back there would definitely be a meeting and things around here were going to get a lot harder than they had been. They needed more people to keep the town safe. Or maybe they needed to leave so the threat that Philip posed wouldn't be crushing them all. She felt the familiar stirrings of guilt in her chest. Everyone here was in danger because of her. The baby was in danger because of her. Her and her really shitty luck.

What if Beth didn't make it? Would the others blame her as much as she did herself? Would Merle? She shook the thought off and kept her eyes peeled. No one else was going to fall today. Not under her watch. After Daryl and the others took off around the building she went to join Lori once more. After they all regrouped they would do a sweep of the town starting at the south wall and work their way north. It was one of the things Buck drilled into their heads. Along with the command that Lori and Carol not leave the roof until someone from the group came and got them.

She wasn't about to let her guard down. All seemed to be quiet at the moment but that didn't mean it would stay that way. Lori was still scanning the street but Carol couldn't be sure if she was looking for more of Philip's men or any signs of her husband. She didn't blame her. If it had been Daryl she would probably be out there right now. Rules be damned.

~H~

Daryl made his way around the building, holding an exhausted Shane up by the arm, Axel was on Shane's other side, offering more support. There was blood but Daryl hadn't been able to tell where it was coming from. He hoped the other man hadn't been bit. They had their differences but all in all, as much as he hated to admit it, Shane was like a brother of sorts. A lot of times brothers didn't much like one another but at the end of the day they were all each other had. That was how the whole group was starting to look at one another. They were bonded through survival instead of blood but hey were kin all the same. He never thought he'd feel that way but it was there.

As soon as they made it to the front of the building Tyreese was rushing through the doors to Hershel's clinic, carrying a limp and bleeding Beth. Hershel was hurrying after them with Maggie helping him along. Glenn wasn't there but Daryl didn't have time to ask about him. He needed to get Shane inside and find out if he needed to be put down. He felt his stomach twist at this thought. It was like Shane was some animal that they would euthanize if need be.

He wrestled him into the door and sat him down in one of the chairs. "You get bit?" he asked hurriedly.

Shane shook his head and lifted his shirt up. There was an ugly tear in his skin about six inches long. It looked like it might need stitches. "Fence. A piece of the metal snagged me before I knew it. I didn't think it was that bad."

Daryl blew out a sigh of relief. He had knelt down in front of Shane to get a better look at his wound but now that he knew Shane was alright he relaxed visibly but wasn't quick to move. His legs felt wobbly from all the exertion.

"We gonna kiss now?" Shane asked with a lopsided smile.

Daryl scowled and then stood up, giving the other man a good whack on the head before he hurried to the door.

"Hey, I'm injured asshole." Shane called but Daryl didn't spare him another glance. There were two other problems he had to deal with before he checked in on Beth and then rounded up the others for a sweep.

Neither man had moved from the wall. Not that they didn't want too but with their legs shattered like that there wasn't really any way for them to go anywhere. He had hoped like hell they hadn't bled out. One of them wasn't conscious but the other one was watching him, his expression angry.

"You from Woodbury?" he asked, matching the man's angry expression. He was barely able to restrain himself when the man said nothing. He lashed out, kicking the guy in the leg, causing him to cry out and then curse him repeatedly.

"Yeah," he groaned as he held onto his leg. "And don't think this is it either. He's gonna do what he has to do to get his woman and his baby back from you freaks." The man was gasping and sweating.

Daryl took a step back. These people thought that he was keeping Carol against her will? He almost felt sorry for them. Almost. "You joined up with the wrong group, asshole. We ain't got his woman. He wants to take mine and she ain't carryin' his baby either. You're gonna die for nothin'."

The man shook his head but didn't say anything else.

"Is there more of you comin' today?" he asked quickly.

The corners of the mans mouth turned up and he shook his head. "He has plans. And you'll have to go ahead and kill me cause I ain't tellin' you shit."

Daryl chuckled darkly and knelt down, pulling the large hunting knife from his hip. He dug the tip of it into one of the wounds in the guys thigh. "I think you'll talk before I kill you."

The man started screaming in agony, cursing Daryl himself and everyone else in the group.

"Maybe you should start talkin'." Daryl growled.

"Fuck you!" the man snarled.

Daryl clucked his tongue and shook his head, digging the knife in further.

"Two days!" he man gasped after a while. "We were suppose to lay low and watch you for a while. We were suppose to report back and then he was launching a real raid in two days. Now get that knife outta my fuckin' leg!"

"How many of you came?" Daryl growled, twisting the knife viciously.

The man screamed. "Fifteen! We were scouting and when we saw the big guy leave we figured we'd try to get her out of here. This wasn't his plan, it was ours."

So the man was planning to attack in a few days. That gave them little time to prepare. Daryl stood up and without blinking he shot the man in the head and then shot his unconscious friend. He wasted a few precious seconds gazing at the bodies, willing himself to feel some sort of remorse for the men. He couldn't. If they would have succeeded today then Carol would be gone.

He turned around and stalked off back towards the clinic. T-dog and Glenn were standing outside, heads hung low. His heart sank and all he could think at that moment was the reason both men would be looking so beaten... and if his brother would ever recover.


	16. Chapter 16

**Here is a very late update! And I'm happy to announce that, thanks to some great ideas from my boyfriend, whom I didn't know even paid any attention to my ranting about my lack of progress with this story, I have plot development, people! *Gasp* I know, I know. I was shocked too ;) I want to thank everyone that has stuck with this story even though I have had so much trouble with it. You are definitely the best! I love you ALL! **

Chapter Sixteen

They weren't going to make it. There was no way they could make it to the truck. No matter how much they fought they were going to go down if they kept trying. Michonne was cursing Buck with every walker she killed and Merle was doing the same thing. They were closer to the hospital than they were the truck and they were going to have to turn around. But that was the last fucking thing in the world Buck wanted to do. He needed to get back to the others. It was risky as hell for them to leave for just the few hours they thought they would be gone. If they turned back then who knew how long they would be stuck in there.

But if they didn't they would surely end up dead. And then he wouldn't be any good to anyone. With a vicious snarl he slammed his knife into a walker's skull and then turned around. The three of them were back to back and it was nothing short of a miracle that none of them had been bitten yet. He didn't trust that their luck would hold out. If they didn't turn around then one of them were going to die. Maybe he would get lucky and it would be Michonne. He smirked at the thought.

"Go back!" he yelled as they started moving in an awkward formation to the hospital doors. If one of them fell down it would be over. He was surprised to find that it wasn't over already. They fought their way back to the doors and then finally, after what felt like hours, they were back inside. But it still wasn't safe. The walkers were slamming themselves against the doors and Buck was pretty sure it wasn't going to hold forever.

The three of them took off at a run towards the service stairs that they had used earlier. Once they had one floor and two steal doors between themselves and the walkers they let themselves relax a bit. Merle and Michonne both leaned against the wall and slid down until they were sitting on the floor but Buck was too filled with adrenalin to sit still. He made his way to the windows and looked down. There was a sea of them stretching from the front entrance doors all the way past their truck. They wouldn't get through here. That didn't mean they wouldn't be able to get out anywhere though. Surely there was some back way in and out. Hell, it was a hospital, there had to be a shit ton of exits, right?

He blew out an angry breath and pushed himself away from the window frame. His hand slid into his pocket and he felt the familiar string bracelet slide between his fingers. He didn't know why it soothed him but it did. It was familiar to him now and despite himself it brought him calm instead of regret. He shook off anymore thoughts of little dead girls from his mind before they could take root. He had to keep his head on straight.

"What now, old man?" Merle asked as he stood up. "We're fuckin' stuck."

Buck glanced down the isle. "Since we're stuck we might as well make some rounds and see what else we can find up here to take back. Anything could be useful. We ain't got shit back home."

Michonne and Merle both nodded and then went off down the hall in one direction so he left the load he was carrying on the floor by the door where they had left theirs and went the other way. Once he made it to one set of doors leading to the intensive care unit he hit a dead end. Literally.

The doors were chained shut from the other side. He took a few steps back, a scowl on his face. They had just been to this part of the hospital and these were the doors they had went through. When they had first come up to this level they hadn't questioned why there weren't any walkers. They had been on a mission with other things on their minds. Now he knew why. Someone was up here securing this part of the hospital.

He wouldn't blame anyone for the move. It was pretty damn smart, really. He almost wished he'd thought of it. He had two choices. He could walk away and let whoever it is be, or he could figure out who was up here and why they had locked him and Merle out. He pushed on the door until he could once more see the chains that were holding it closed. There was enough give for him to get a good look. There was only one chain really, wrapped several times. It was a sturdy one too. It would have kept the walkers out pretty easily but it wouldn't prove as effective on him.

He turned around and ran back down the hallway. He wasn't stupid enough to shoot the chain apart while he stood there alone. He needed Merle and Michonne to cover him. Maybe there was no one in there. Or maybe it was a whole group. Either way, he was planning on finding out whether or not they prove to be any good to him and his own group. He needed more people to help protect his town. Maybe he'd found himself some.

~H~

Carol rushed to Hershel's side as soon as they got the okay to come down from the roof. She tried not to let herself believe that they had lost one of their own but deep down she had prepared herself for the worst. Beth could be dead. Merle would be devastated. Their group would be left with a huge wound that none of them would get over quickly.

"Hershel?" she said his name quietly as she placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her with eyes that were red and swollen but dry.

"The bullet went straight through. I've done just about everything I can do. She'll wake up when she's ready," he patted the hand she still had clamped to his shoulder.

There was something in his voice that she didn't like but she took his words as truth and peered over his shoulder at the pale face of her friend. She had been shot low on her shoulder but that was all patched up now. She knew that the exit wound would be much worse than the entrance. She had seen enough to know that. Whether it be a walker or a human, the rules were the same. The exit wound was always the gruesome sight when it came to getting shot.

"I'm just glad we didn't have to go in there and dig for the bullet. That could have taken hours and I could have done more damage to her than good. Another inch it would have torn through the top of her lung." Hershel seemed to shiver at the thought.

Carol gave his shoulder a squeeze and then left him there with Maggie and Glenn. In the grand scheme of things they were pretty much one big family now but Hershel and Maggie needed to be with Beth. She wouldn't intrude on that.

Out on the sidewalk everyone was pretty much just waiting. They didn't know what they were waiting for exactly but their guns were at the ready anyway. She still had hers on her back. She needed to reload and get out of this funk but it was hard.

Lori and Rick were having it out about ten feet away from everyone else. Between him and T-dog, there was no one to go back to Woodbury to report what happened. There had been twelve men taken down inside the walls and then three that were on the outside hadn't been able to get far once Rick and T-dog had went over the wall after them. Lori's voice was getting louder regardless of how much Rick tried to sooth her. Finally she threw up her hands and stormed off towards the apartments. This wasn't going to be a good night for Rick. Carol couldn't blame her at all. If Daryl had done something so utterly stupid she would have reacted the same way. Hell, all he had to do was hurt her feelings and she would ignore him for a week. She wanted to kick her own ass for the way she had been treating him. She was an idiot.

"I need to get up there and get cleaned up," he said from behind her. "I got blood all over me from Shane and those walkers."

She glanced over her shoulder. He was right. He was a mess and needed to get that crap off of him. Maybe she'd join him. Like a hot shower could wash away the trauma of the day. She was also, strangely enough, starving. She'd skipped lunch in her hurry to keep away from the one person that she couldn't stand the thought of losing.

She let him take her hand, for the first time in a week, and followed him up the stairs. She felt drained, emotionally and otherwise. He could have died today. For a split second, when that man had came out from between the buildings with his gun raised before Daryl could even see him, she had thought he was going to die. He probably had too. If she had been looking in the other direction then he would have been. She could have been mourning him right now instead of holding his hand, warm and alive, in her own.

Once she had the door closed he dropped her hand. "You alright?"

She nodded quickly. "I'm fine. We're both alive, right? That's what matters." Her voice was barely there. "We need to get you cleaned up."

She tugged his shirt up over his head before they were even too the bathroom. A lot of the blood had soaked through his shirt, leaving red blotches on his ribs and stomach. He stopped her hand before she could touch it. She looked up and met a set of worried blue eyes.

"You and Lori killed most of those men today," he said softly. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"It was them or us, right? What choice do any of us have anymore? You kill or you die. It isn't pretty and I might be having a hard time accepting it, but it's the way now. That first man was going to kill you."

He nodded and let go of her hand again so she could get around him to start the water. Buck had a five minute per person rule so they wouldn't be using so much of the fuel for the generators. She usually followed that rule down to the second but she really wished she would have more time tonight. She straightened up and then felt his hands tugging the hem of her shirt up. He must have had the same idea. She lifted her arms over her head and let him get rid of it. She didn't turn around to face him.

As soon as they were under the water she felt herself relax against him. His hands slid around to her ever growing stomach and he chuckled into her neck. She was hungry and tired and half scared out of her mind but that quiet sound in her ear had her smiling despite herself.

"Are you laughing at me?" she asked, trying to sound outraged.

He shook his head against her shoulder. "Nope," he said as his lips met her neck and the husky sound of his voice had her turning around. Her hands went to his hair and she brought his face to hers, kissing him hungrily.

He was alive and she was alive and for the moment they were both fine. That was what mattered. Not their ridiculous fight or the horrors of the day. Right now was the only thing that mattered and she tried desperately to relay that to him without having to say the words.

~H~

Merle heard Buck coming up behind them at a run. He couldn't think of any other reason he would be running unless those rotten walkers had made their way up. He turned around, gun ready to take out anything that may be in pursuit of the older man but there was nothing there.

"The hell is goin' on, Buck?" Merle asked quickly when he saw the grim look on his fathers face.

Buck shook his head. "We ain't the only ones up here alive. Somebody chained the doors to the other hall. Have you two tried the doors down there?" he asked, pointing behind him to another set of double doors.

Merle scowled. "We ain't been down that far. You think these people are gonna be a problem?"

Buck eyed him for a few seconds and then finally shrugged his heavy shoulders. "Hard to say. You'd think if they wanted trouble we woulda seen'em long before this. They're tryin' to keep us out for a reason. I don't guess we gotta lot to worry about. Probably just takin' refuge in this place. Maybe survivors that were already here when shit hit the fan. Wont know until we check them out."

Michonne scowled. "And you don't think it'd be a better idea to leave them alone?"

Merle groaned inwardly. Buck was gonna go off now.

Buck looked at her and then scratched his chin. "What's your opinion?" he asked, shocking Melre and Michonne both.

Michonne glanced down the hall. "Well, I think it would be a better..."

"Wait," Buck held up a hand. "I almost forgot. You're the bitch that nearly got me and my boy here killed for your own gain. Your opinion don't mean shit. You don't like my calls, go the fuck home."

Merle couldn't help but bark out a laugh at the dark look Michonne shot the man. He should have known Buck was going to pull some shit like that. Michonne, on the other hand, didn't look like she appreciated Buck's over use of sarcasm. She was still smart enough to keep her trap shut. He was glad too cause Merle wouldn't put it past Buck to just kill her. If it wasn't for the fact that she was one of their best fighters then he was sure Buck would have killed her already.

Michonne rolled her eyes at the big man's back as he stalked by them towards the double doors.

"Don't worry. He'll warm up to ya again. Eventually." Merle elbowed her on his way by.

"Your dad is a real son of a bitch," she said in a voice loud enough for Buck to hear.

Merle shook his head. "No, he's pissed off cause of that stunt you pulled." Merle knew that she had her reasons for luring them inside Woodbury. It wasn't like she really even tricked them into going in. they had pretty much just followed her. But she had known they would follow her and Buck was pissed about her leading them in there. Even if it was to see if they would be able to bust out some of their own.

Buck pushed against the double doors and sure enough they gave a little and then wouldn't budge. They were chained just like the other ones.

"Hold it open. I'm shootin' these chains out and findin' out who's in here," Buck said as Merle and Michonne both pushed against one of the doors. Buck kept the rifle on his back and pulled out a hand gun. Well, it was a hand cannon really. The only hand gun Buck would bother with was one that he could hold comfortably in his hands. It was .44 Desert Eagle. It looked like a Ruger in the hands of a regular man.

One shot was all it took. Buck was pushing through the doors before the chains even hit the floor. The three of them went in low, guns raised and eyes scanning the room. All three of them froze at the same time and Michonne cursed under her breath.

"Thought I smelled tacos." Merle said glumly.

There were five men standing there with guns trained on them.

"Fillipe, go get G!" a boy no older than seventeen yelled. "Go!"

One of the bigger men took off down the hall while the others kept their guns trained on Merle, Michonne and Buck. The three didn't lower their guns. No one moved.

"You people are about to make a big fuckin' mistake," Buck growled.

The boy shook his head. "We didn't go after you. You and your friends here busted in. We weren't looking for trouble. How bout you folks drop those weapons."

Merle narrowed his eyes. "How you suck my fuckin'..."

"Merle!" Michonne hissed.

One of the bigger men stepped up. "You don't look to be in any position for requests, redneck."

"Fuck you," Merle spat. He knew he needed to keep his mouth shut but this was bad. Really bad. He wanted to get his ass back to Beth and the rest of his group. Now they were probably going to be gunned down by a gang of Mexicans. Just his fucking luck. Maybe he shouldn't have started off the conversation with that taco joke.


	17. Chapter 17

**I am not a big fan of this chapter but it's all I have for now. I hope you enjoy it more than I did! It's moving along anyway. Thank you so much for reading! Hope everyone has a great day! =) I'll be posting for Black Moon Blues tomorrow for whoever is interested! Just a heads up for ya!**

Chapter Seventeen

Daryl didn't even give her time to dry off before he was backing her towards the doorway to their bedroom. He had tried like hell to keep his hands to himself but it was to no avail. It had been too long. He had thought she was leaving earlier and then after the attack he wasn't sure if either of them were going to make it. Now he was overwhelmed with these thoughts. He kissed her like he had never kissed her before. And he didn't stop.

She tripped over her own feet as he moved her backwards but he already had her around the waist so keeping her upright wasn't hard. He didn't bother turning on any lights because that would mean that he would have to take his hands off of her and he wasn't willing to do that. Not yet. Not when today could have been their last day alive.

When he broke the kiss it was only long enough for him to ease her onto the bed and then his lips were on hers again, and she met his with a fever of her own, her fingers threaded through his hair and tugged him harder against her.

"I'm sorry for being so stupid," she breathed into his ear as his lips trailed down her throat.

"I was an asshole," he whispered breathlessly as he dipped his head lower, skimming her color bone with his nose and then leaving a wet trail down the center of her chest.

"I should be used to it by now. I overreacted." Her hands were still in his hair, urging him further.

He chuckled and rested his lips against the swell of her stomach for just a few seconds before continuing on his way. He wasn't going to have a repeat of last time. He was focused now, filled with a desperate need for her, but one nudge from that baby would most likely freak him out again and he wasn't willing to let that happen.

He ran his hands down the insides of her thighs, smiling when he felt the muscle there tremble under his touch. Pushing her legs apart further he kissed her deeply, savoring the taste of her, causing her to gasp and dig her heels into the mattress so she could raise her hips, giving him more room to explore her. It had been so long since they had taken their time enough for him to do this to her that he almost forgot it made him half out of his mind as well.

She was panting and whimpering when finally he gave all of his attention to that one spot that he knew would send her over the edge. Her body jerked and she almost sat up, bracing herself with one arm while keeping her hold on his hair with her other hand. She had never had such an explosive reaction before. She was actually cursing as she tightened her grip on his hair to the point of pain, keeping him in place as her trembling thighs tried to close around his head.

He didn't stop until she was trying to yank his head back up. He came up on his knees still unable to keep his hands from trailing down her legs.

"I'm not taking any chances on you stopping this, Daryl," she said breathlessly.

He frowned right before he caught her grin and then she rolled over. His breath caught in his throat right before he leaned over her, kissing the back of her neck and then working his way down again, his lips barely brushing the soft skin at the center of her back until he could feel goosebumps under his lips. When he finally reached the small of her back he raised back up to his knees, grabbed her hips and lifted her until she was on her knees. When he moved into her she cried out but it was muffled because she had her face pressed into the mattress. He actually had to stop. She still felt like she always had before. Fucking amazing. But it was different somehow. He couldn't really explain it and he didn't even try too. He just let the feel of her wrap around him, perfectly fitting like he was the only man she was made for.

He started moving cautiously, still unsure what the rules were when it came to pregnant women and sex. He was holding back until she raised her head and made a frustrated sound. She slammed back against him hard. He wasn't a stupid man. He got the hint and gripped her hips even tighter and he finally stopped holding back.

When he had her right there once more he had to squeeze his eyes closed and clench his teeth. The wave of heat, followed by that familiar tightening inside her had him struggling to hold on. His self control was lacking though and he couldn't hold back. It turned out he hadn't needed to hold back at all. As soon as that first wave of pleasure hit him he growled as her body responded, drawing him in deeper, pulsing around him, her muffled cries making it feel that much more intense.

She moved away from him, rolling over onto her back and pulling him down with her, her lips seeking his as her legs went around him. He laughed against her mouth before he lifted his head. From the light shining in through the hallway he could see that she was smiling.

"What?" he asked, unable to keep himself from grinning back.

Her smile faltered just a little and he saw her eyes glistening, he frowned when she only shrugged. "I missed you," she whispered.

He kissed her again, not knowing what to say to her. He hadn't gone anywhere. She was the one that had spent the week drifting further and further away. But he wasn't about to say that to her. All he could do now is keep his mouth shut and let her know that he didn't have any intentions of going anywhere, ever. She should have already known that.

He had to push away all the thoughts that tried to crush his optimism because that wasn't true at all. In two days that maniac was planning on launching an attack on the town. Sure, they had plenty of guns and ammo but there just wasn't enough of them. But still, today had been a surprise attack, three of their best were MIA and still they had managed to kill fifteen men with only one of their own getting injured in the process. This gave him hope that they could do this. Their small group could very well defend the town and themselves from the mayor and then that horror, at least, would be over.

All too soon he had to pull away from her. He had to be down there when Buck and Merle got back. "I gotta get back out there and wait for Buck and my brother," he said as he rolled off of her and then shoved his legs through a pair of pants that were draped across the foot of the bed.

"You need to eat," she said quickly. "And then I want to go with you." There was a hesitancy to her tone, like she desperately wanted to go but was afraid of another argument.

He didn't want her to go back out there but the threat was gone. None of those men had made it back to report what they had learned to Philip. Maybe the man would take the hint and deem their group too strong to mess with. But he doubted it. The guy had told Daryl that they had a few days before they had to worry about anything else and his gut told him it was true. And he didn't like leaving her up here alone any more than he liked her being down there in the potential line of fire.

He nodded. "Alright. Get your ass to cookin' then woman."

She threw a pillow at him and then stood up, dressing quickly in the near darkness, obviously not caring what it was she grabbed out of her drawer.

"So you don't have any plans to keep me under lock down?" she asked, genuine curiosity lacing her words.

He shook his head. "I don't think we got anything to worry about for now. I kind of thought you might wanna go back and check in on Beth anyhow. I didn't expect ya to stay put."

She kissed him quickly and turned to leave the room. "Good. It wouldn't have done you any good anyway." She glanced back over her shoulder, a smile on her face as she winked.

"You're such an asshole," he grumbled.

~H~

Buck was more than half tempted to kick Merle in the teeth. He wanted to have a civil conversation with this Guillermo fellow and all Merle could do was be a smart ass to the guy.

"Merle, shut up. One more word and I swear to God I'm gonna break your nose," Buck growled as Merle started in on the other man again. Merle glared at Buck but didn't say another word.

Guillermo looked over at Buck then and nodded slightly. "Do you mind telling me why the hell you three thought it would be smart to blow the chains off those doors and come after us?"

Buck lowered his gun causing Merle to curse. He didn't want to put the weapon away but this wasn't going to go anywhere if they didn't try to act peaceful. "Lower your weapon, boy," he said quietly.

Merle gaped at him. "Are you fuckin high? Fuck that! They got twenty mother fuckers with guns aimed at my head!"

"Maybe if you'd shut your goddamn mouth they might be more willin' to stop aimin' them at your head ya dumb ass!" Buck yelled, causing the other men to shift nervously.

Merle, with a vicious curse, lowered the gun and then shoved it so it was dangling from the strap on his back.

Buck looked back at the man that seemed to be the leader. "Look, we wasn't lookin' for trouble. We got some people back home that's gonna need some of these supplies. That's all we was doin'. Just scavagin' for our own."

"Back home, huh?" G. asked.

Buck nodded.

"And where is this home of yours mister? So far the only people we've ran across are either out for blood or in need of shelter. So far you three are the only ones armed that we haven't had to fight away from here or kill."

Buck wasn't too sure what to tell this guy. On one hand, they had numbers that Buck could really use when Philip sent his men. On the other hand, they had the numbers and they didn't look too friendly. If they told these people where the town was they could shoot the three of them on the spot and then go kill everyone back in the town. "I think we might need to do a bit more talkin' before I tell ya that," he said holding up his hands when the guy looked like he was going to argue, "I got family back there and I ain't gonna go tell armed strangers where the hell to find'em. You can kill us now if that's what you wanna do but we ain't tellin' you shit right now."

Guillermo regarded him levelly and then glanced back at his own men. "Is this all? Just the three of you?"

Buck nodded. "There's twenty one of us total in our group. The others stayed behind."

"And you're here for medical supplies, huh? You got sick people there?" Guillermo asked, his voice sounding nothing but curious.

Buck took a deep breath. "Two of our women are pregnant. They're gonna need more than what we got there when it's time. That's all we we're doin' here."

Guillermo looked as though he were about to say something else but suddenly there was a commotion from down the hall. When Buck looked up over Guillermo's head he noticed a little old woman shuffling towards them. He frowned.

"Felipe! Go see what your grandmother needs, man. Jesus..." he said to the guy that had went to retrieve him to begin with.

The old woman started speaking to them in Spanish so Buck had no idea what the problem was but she seemed distressed.

"She alright?" Merle asked as he motioned to the woman.

Guillermo turned and gave the three of them an exasperated look. "If you put your weapons away I'll show you why we have to be so cautious around here. If you really are just here to get supplies for your people then I don't see why we can't act like civilized men."

Buck nodded and did as Merle had done, fixing his rifle to his back so it wasn't as intimidating to the gang of men that were still keeping them in their sites. Michonne was the last to oblige. She looked as angry as Merle had when Buck had forced him to put his own weapon away.

The truth was, Buck wasn't comfortable with the situation either but it didn't seem like they had much choice. He had to do what he had too to get his ass back to the others. If that meant playing nice with what looked like a post apocalyptic Mexican mafia then that was what he would do. Guillermo motioned for them to follow him and so they did. The other men were behind them and he hated the thought of having all those guns aimed at his back.

Merle apparently did too and Buck couldn't help but wince when he heard Merle's loud angry voice. "Hey, asshole! If we had to put our goddamn weapons down then why the fuck do your boys get to keep theirs pointed at us?"

Gullermo glanced back over his shoulder and shrugged. "Just a precaution. No one is gonna be shooting anyone else today."

This made Buck feel a little bit better about the situation. "So, how many men you got here?" he asked as they went through another set of doors, the old woman and her grandson leading the way.

"As far as able bodied men we have around twenty five."

Buck rolled the number around in his head. That was more than enough. He wasn't sure how smart it would be to have them come to the town that his own group had worked so hard to secure but he was starting to get the impression that they weren't all bad guys. They were just trying to do what they could to survive.

Buck nearly stopped in his tracks when they passed a room and he glanced in. There were a couple of other elderly people in the room. They were sitting up in the bed talking quietly to another one of Guillermo's men who was giving them what looked like medication. A few more rooms showed more elderly people and Buck was scowling by the time they made it to what looked like a large waiting room that had been converted into some sort of day room.

There were several people gathered around an old man who seemed to be gasping for breath. The man called Felipe hurried over to the old man and produced an inhaler from his pocket. He helped the man take a few puffs and then all seemed to calm down a bit.

"What the hell is this?" Buck asked as he glanced around the room at the other elderly folks sitting at tables doing various things.

Guillermo glanced around and then shrugged. "There's a senior citizens home a few blocks away from here. When things got crazy the staff just left the old ones there to die. Two of us stayed behind and did what we could for them but it was just me and Felipe. The building wasn't very easy to secure though so once others started trickling in, family members who came to check on their loved ones who ended up staying on to help out, we used the facility vans to move them here. Now suddenly I'm the leader of a group of men and elderly people. Hell, all I was was their custodian."

Buck took all of this in as he looked from face to face. "Is this place secure?"

Guillermo shook his head. "It's secure enough from the dead. The dead isn't really the thing we are most afraid of here. It's the living. It's hard, protecting the old ones and keeping people from trying to steal what's left of the food and the medicine."

"You ever think about movin' them again?" Merle asked, all animosity gone now that they understood these men better.

"Miguel went out a few times alone to scope out different places but there isn't anything here. They can't take a whole lot of moving around. We have the vans but no where to go. It's safe for the most part though but we aren't too sure for how long. Ammo only goes so far."

Buck and Merle shared a long look, ignoring Michonne's glare. Merle nodded.

"We secured a large portion of a town a few hours south of here. If you're interested, we got a proposition for you and your boys here," Buck said, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice.

Guillermo looked at Felipe who nodded eagerly. "What sort of proposition?"

As if Guillermo gave some sort of invisible signal the other men put away their weapons and looked on as Buck explained their situation. Guillermo listened on and eventually, with a nod of his head he shook Buck's hand. "Looks like we need to be getting those van's loaded down, brother," he said to Felipe.

Buck grinned at Merle who elbowed him in the ribs. "Good fuckin' call, old man," he muttered.

That psycho fuck didn't stand a chance in hell against them now.


	18. Chapter 18

**Here you go folks! So sorry about the wait. I feel like a real ass but honestly there isn't a whole lot more too this story. Maybe 5 more chapter and an epilogue and it will be laid to rest! I can't say I'm not happy about that. This sequel has given me more trouble than any other story. Ever! I hope you enjoy this one and I hope you all have a great day! Thanks for reading and excuse any huge mistakes! **

Chapter Eighteen

Daryl had no clue what time it was but he knew that Buck and his brother should have been back by now. They had been gone damn near twelve hours and a whole lot could happen in that amount of time. It wouldn't have taken them that long to get the stuff they needed from the hospital. The trip there and back was probably about four hours total, giving them eight hours to get inside and grab the things that they went for. They never would have taken that long unless something bad had happened.

He'd come to depend a lot on Buck. He was the dad that Daryl never knew he could be and to lose him now after everything they had gone through to get to where they were now would crush something inside Daryl that he never knew he had. He loved the big crazy bastard with everything in him. And his brother? Well, even before Merle had gotten sober and became the man he was now, Daryl would have taken a bullet for him.

"Stop it," Carol admonished as she leaned into his side. Blue let out a low whine as if he felt the same way Daryl did. Like something bad had happened.

He looked down at her and then back out towards the road. She was shivering and her breath was coming out in a small white clouds. The temperature had dropped drastically. "Stop what?" he asked gruffly.

"Stop worrying. It's Buck, Daryl. Nothing is going to happen to either one of them."

Daryl shook his head. "Buck's a mortal man just like the rest of us. He can get bit just as quick as me or you can." Blue barked, causing them both to look down at him. Blue craned his neck and then sneezed a few times.

He heard Carol sigh and he looked at her again, ignoring the pacing indignant dog on the street below. "You should get your ass inside. Go see if Hershel needs you or somethin'. Last thing we need is for you to end up sick."

"He's right," Andrea said as she managed the makeshift ladder with one hand. She held out a cup for one of them to take from her so she could climb the rest of the way up. "We really don't need you to end up sick. We've been lucky with that so far."

Daryl was about to take a drink from whatever was in the cup but Andrea took it away before he could.

"This is for her. You can get your own," she said as she handed the cup to Carol.

"Thank God," Carol muttered. "Is it coffee?" she sniffed at the steam and then made a face.

"Chamomile tea. Decaff. All that sugar and caffeine isn't good for the baby."

Carol took a sip and then scowled. "This is gross."

Daryl couldn't help but smile. "You're gonna make one hell of a grandma, blondie."

If looks could kill he would have been a dead man. "It's good for you. You should drink it." Her eyes scanned the road beyond them, her brow creasing in worry. "It's been too long. Something's happened."

Carol's scowl deepened. "Would the two of you stop it? For Christ's sake, they went on a run. We can't freak out every time someone isn't back as fast as we think they should be. I don't remember them telling us a time."

Daryl gave Andrea a nod. "She's right. If they knew me and you was up here worryin' over them then they'd give us shit over it for sure," He forced his voice to sound sure, even though he was still gripped with a fear of his own. He was the one that had to keep his cool around here.

The trio turned their heads at the sound of someone else climbing up. Sasha gave them all a forced smile. "You two are off the hook for the night. Me and Andrea's on watch this shift."

Daryl frowned. He knew if he voiced it out loud the three women would probably string him up by his balls but he didn't feel too comfortable leaving Andrea and Sasha up there by themselves after everything that happened. Then again, he knew Carol wasn't going to get her ass down until he did and he had been having a hard time making sure that he was between her and the line of any potential fire without her realizing what he was doing. With a nod he went to the ladder.

Carol shoved the cup back into Andrea's hands. "It's cold out here. You're gonna need this more than me," she said with a wink.

Andrea made a face and then watched them climb down.

They were only about a half a block away when Daryl heard the sound of vehicles. More than one. He gripped Carol's shoulders and looked down at her. He cursed loudly when he saw how wide and afraid her eyes were.

"Get Lori and get back to the roof. Send Rick down," he said quickly. Surely this couldn't be Philip making another show. Surely not. He needed those two days the man had told him he had. They weren't going to be able to fight off the man's group if he loaded up the rest of his fighters and was about to make another attack.

"Daryl, please," She gripped his arms and shook her head. "I'll be fine..."

"Go," he said in a soft voice as he pushed her hair behind her ears. He'd beg her if he had too. She had been expecting his anger but he couldn't even dredge any up at the moment. He didn't want to do this all over again but he had too and she had to be safe.

She nodded and with a quick kiss she turned and hurried away. He watched until she was inside and then he sprinted to the makeshift clinic where he knew that most of them were still gathered. He pretty much just yelled into the door, "Get your asses out here! We got company again!" and then took back off towards the wall where he had just left Andrea and Sasha.

Both woman were crouched down, guns at the ready. He had no idea why this was happening so soon. Unless the man he had killed earlier had been lying. That was a possibility, but he had been sure the guy was telling the truth.

When Daryl turned around at the sound of people approaching he saw Dale and Hershel, hurrying towards him, the others following. Dale, breathing heavily, was the one that spoke before Daryl could even start up the makeshift ladder.

"We have two buses comin' our way," Dale said quickly. "But they seem to be following one of our own trucks. It's gotta be Buck and you know if they were being followed by anyone hostile they wouldn't have led them here."

"How do you know?" Daryl asked as he hopped back down. The headlights weren't even visible yet.

"Axel and I decided to watch from the roof. I think Buck and Merle got more than they bargained for. I don't think this is Woodbury at all."

Daryl heard Andrea then. "We're seein' headlights. Do we fire?"

"No!" Daryl yelled and then scrambled up to the top. Sure enough there were vehicles coming up fast. The walkers on the ground turned slowly, when they noticed the truck. Sure enough it was one of their own. He could tell by the sound now. Daryl turned just as Glenn made it to the wall. "Glenn, go around and get the side gate open so Buck can get in!" he called quickly.

"How do we know it's him?" Glenn asked before taking off.

Just then the truck stopped and then the horn honked five quick times, drawing even more walkers towards the vehicles.

Glenn knew what that mean. It was, indeed, Buck.

Once the gate was opened the truck in the front of the small caravan sped forward, smashing through the wall of walkers that had crowded around them. The two buses behind followed and Daryl and the two women readied their guns to take out any walkers that tried to get in before Glenn could get the gate shut.

"Hershel, ya might wanna get back in there with Beth. It's gonna take everything you got to keep my brother calm after he finds out whats happened," Daryl called over his shoulder right before he let loose with a spray of bullets, dropping walkers.

He didn't turn to see the old man take off but he knew he would listen. Someone was probably going to have to hold Merle down and tie his ass up to keep him from going to Woodbury on his own to avenge his woman. Hell, Daryl wouldn't blame him if he did. If their roles were reversed he'd already be there.

He told Sasha to stay put and motioned for Andrea to follow him. Duane was waiting at the bottom when they came back down.

"Get your ass up there and keep watch with Sasha, kid. You see somethin' that ain't right you get your ass to those buses and you start shootin' anybody that ain't ours, you hear me?" Daryl said firmly. Duane gave him a swift nod and then climbed up as him and Andrea took off at a run towards the truck and the buses.

Merle and Buck climbed out of the truck, followed by Michonne. Andrea glared at her for a few seconds before she gave Buck a smile and a nod. The two of them usually weren't too quick to grope all over one another in front of the rest of the group but Buck must not have cared at the moment. He bent down and kissed her hard, tangling his hand in her hair while Merle launched into an unlikely tale of old people and a Mexican gang.

Daryl sent Glenn up to the roof to get the women just as most of the group were making there way towards them, guns ready. Even Shane, with a pained grimace, hurried over as the people in the buses started unloading.

Daryl's defenses shot up when he saw the men that were hanging back. There were at least twenty newcomers, most of them armed and none of them looking all too friendly.

Buck motioned for his own group to get a move on and then, with Andrea's hand locked in his own, he made his way over to the newcomers. Buck quickly made introductions and Daryl was relieved to see that the men seemed to be eager to join ranks with them. They appeared to have been through a bit of a rough start and they were gracious and polite as they shook hands with the rest of them. Their leader, Guillermo, explained how they had been surviving over the past months at the hospital.

Daryl felt her hands on him before he saw her there at his side. It was like she didn't even see the others gathered around as she pulled him too her, locking her arms around his neck. He listened to the others talking and asking questions as he held onto her tightly. She had had one hell of a day. All he wanted to do was get her back to their place.

The group from the hospital added to their numbers, which was clearly the answer to most of their prayers. But along with their numbers and their eagerness to help them protect the town in exchange to become members themselves, they brought with them a whole new burden that made Daryl more than a little nervous. The other bus held a group of elderly people that were going to need a lot of care and zap a lot of their resources. But it was a fare trade in his book for the extra protection these men would provide. From the looks of them they didn't seem like the type of men that would tolerate any threat to their own. This was a good thing.

"Wait, where the hell's Beth?" Merle asked suddenly.

In all the excitement of the new arrivals there hadn't been an opening to tell Buck and Merle about the attack. Daryl wasn't looking forward to this at all.

"We got attacked just before sundown. Fifteen men from Woodbury were sent to scout and decided since you three took off they would have a chance to wipe us out and take Carol back to Philip."

Even in the limited light from the distant fires on Main street Daryl could see the color drain from Merle's face. Even his lips appeared to be white.

"Beth was shot but we're doin' what we can..." Daryls voice trailed off as the expression on Merle's face became murderous. When Daryl's eyes flicked over to meet Buck's he had the same look on his face.

"She gonna make it?" he asked in a voice that sounded like he was gargling gravel. His teeth were clenched and Daryl could have sworn the blue of his eyes darkened as though the Devil himself hid behind his brother's intense gaze.

"Hershel thinks she will. He's with her now," Carol answered before anyone else could. Merle didn't even look at her, which caused Daryl to feel even more nervous.

"Felipe, he's a nurse," the other groups leader said quickly. "Take him to the girl while we unload some of this medical stuff and the old ones and see if he can help your girl."

One of the bigger men nodded and Merle walked off with him without another word. Daryl watched him closely. There was going to be hell to pay later, he could see it in the stiff line of his brother's back.

Tyreese offered to help set up one of the buildings across the street from the one they were all occupying for the elderly people that they were unloading off of the other bus. A few actually had to be carried inside. No one in their group questioned any of the orders that Buck started barking at them. Daryl told Shane to go away and the other man actually obliged, holding his midsection tenderly. Daryl was dreading seeing his brother. He couldn't help but feel partially responsible for what happened to Beth. He was the one that should have been on that damn wall. But it was hard to get the stubborn girl to listen to anything. She wanted to pull her weight. All he could do was hope like hell she was going to pull through. If she didn't then he didn't see Merle living much longer. The man was bound to make vengeance his main priority. Hell, even if she did pull through, keeping him from storming Woodbury tonight wasn't going to be an easy thing.

The new guy, Felipe, was examining the wound in Beth's shoulder. It didn't look like she had came too yet. Hershel had mentioned them giving her a sedative to keep her from coming too so hopefully that was why she was still out. Merle was standing off to the side, his eyes glued to the girl, his arms crossed over his chest and his look was hard as he took her in.

"How's she doin' doc?" Daryl asked as Carol left his side to go stand next to Merle.

Hershel looked up at him and then glanced towards Felipe with a thankful expression. "Seems to be just fine. All her vitals are stable now and with some of the equipment our new friends here have brought with them we can monitor her better," he looked down and brushed some damp blonde hair from Beth's forehead. "I believe she'll be just fine."

Merle looked down at Carol as she put a hand on his forearm. He looked at her for a long time, their eyes locked, both of their expression's strained. They seemed to share a thousand messages with that one look. Daryl wasn't sure what he was going to do. Did Merle blame Carol for Beth getting shot. He already knew that Carol blamed herself. Surely Merle wouldn't be that stupid. Carol didn't ask for any of this and she didn't need the burden of another person's blame on her shoulders. If Merle hurt her then Daryl wasn't sure if he wouldn't shoot him in the ass.

Finally Merle dropped his arms from in front of him and then wrapped them around her. She had definitely been worried that he blamed her because the relief that washed over her was visible as she hugged him back. A small sob escaped her.

"I'm so sorry..." she said quietly.

"Shut up, stupid. You didn't shoot her. She's gonna be fine." Merle said in a gruff voice as his hand ran down her back and pressed his lips to the top of her head. "Coulda been anybody up on that wall."

"But they came for me..." she said, still not convinced that he didn't blame her and making it obvious to the entire room that she definitely felt that this was all her fault. It made him want to rip Philip Blake apart with his bare hands for putting this on her. Merle's eyes shot up and met his. He seemed to be more calm now that they were certain Beth would be okay, but that look still left Daryl with a feeling of unease in his gut.

Once he realized that Merle was going to be okay and Carol was going to stay inside with him and Beth he went out in search of Buck once more.

He found him coming out of the building where they were settling the old folks, Andrea was with him but that was expected.

"So, what's the plan old man?" he asked as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

Buck looked down at the top of Andrea's head and then sighed loudly.

"Tomorrow night," he said in a sure voice that seemed to cause Andrea to flinch.

Daryl frowned. "What about tomorrow night?" He wasn't sure if he liked where this was going. Before Buck said anything else he was joined by the leader of the new group. The man gave Daryl a curt nod and then looked at Buck.

"I've told my men. All we need to do is distribute the guns and let me know the details," he said quickly as he nodded to a younger boy that was helping an elderly woman up the steps.

Buck gave Andrea's shoulders a squeeze. "Why don't you round up some of the others and get some food over here. These people been livin' on rations for a while. They need a good meal."

Andrea nodded and walked past Daryl but then turned sharply. "I'm going with you tomorrow night. I'm not staying here and playing nurse maid while you take Michonne and the men and fight. I'll walk if I have too." She turned on her heel and stormed off, Buck watching her with an angry look on his face.

"Damn woman won't listen to a fuckin' thing I say," he grouched.

Guillermo chuckled before he turned and went back into the building.

Daryl didn't even have to ask now but he did anyway. "We're goin' to Woodbury?"

Buck nodded. "We got the men we needed. I ain't waitin' for that crazy fuck to show and kill our people. We end this at sunset."

Daryl gave him a nod and with a loud sigh turned to go back to the clinic. Carol was going to have a hell of a time with this news but there was no chance in hell Daryl could stay here and there was even less of a chance that she was going to get to come with them for this. The last thing he wanted was another fight with her. So far she had been pretty quick to listen to him today. But this was something big and he had to prepare for the fight she would surely put up.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi guys! I hope you all had a great weekend! Mine was really busy but it was nice. I'm tying up loose ends here. It's things I can't leave hanging, even if this story is giving me a hard time. I was really feeling this chapter for some reason and I hope it shows. I enjoyed writing it, even if it has taken me ages! Thank you all for hanging in there. One thing is for sure, when this story is over, I am going to miss the hell out of Buck Dixon =( I never thought I would love an OC the way I love him. Makes me more than a little sad. **

**Anyway, thank you all for sticking with me through this! And not yelling and cussing up a storm because of my horrible update schedule and the bad quality of these last bunch of chapters. You guys are the absolute best 3**

Chapter Eighteen

Merle paced the small room, unable to sit down but also unable to leave. Beth was still asleep and at times he felt the overwhelming urge to go shake the girl until she woke up. He wanted to hear her voice. He wanted to know without a doubt that she was going to be alright. Hershel and Felipe told him that she would be fine now but he couldn't force himself to believe it. If life had prepared him for anything it was loss. Everything good that him and Daryl had ever managed to scrape together usually turned to dust before their eyes. The life they had tried to make for themselves when they had moved into Carol's house and Buck had came back a changed man had given them hope. They were better than they had thought they were. She had shown them that. They had a real future. They had a real family. They had hope and then that hope was ripped away from them.

This was no different than that. In a matter of days everything they had dreamed about in that house has crumbled. They had lost everything but each other and the will to keep themselves alive. And now this? In a few months he would be an uncle. He'd never thought about anything like that before. He always thought it would be just him and his brother. And now the kid, his own blood, was going to be born into a world where dead people fed off of the flesh of the living. He had a family now, a pretty damn big one, and they were at risk every fucking day. One small breach in their defenses could mean they were all dead. They could act like they were prepared for this life all they wanted but in all reality they simply weren't. Look at what happened today. Not to mention the fact that if him and Buck and Michonne hadn't stumbled onto that other group in the hospital then they would still be trapped inside and he wouldn't have even known Beth had been shot.

He made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat and glanced down at Beth before starting his endless pacing all over again.

Nothing would touch that baby. Nothing like this would ever happen to it. Ever. He'd die before he let something like that happen. But of course he had secretly vowed the same thing when it came to Beth and now she was lying unconscious on a hospital bed, hooked up to wires and an IV drip. She could have been killed. His niece or nephew didn't have much chance of surviving this if he couldn't even keep the adults alive. The thought made him feel sick. How many were they going to lose?

He sat down heavily in the chair that Hershel had vacated a few hours before. It was only him and her in the small room and he wanted to scream at her to wake up. He wanted to shake her for being so fucking stubborn and refusing to stay away from that fucking wall. He realized then that he was angry at her. He was more than angry. He was bloody fucking pissed. Didn't she have any clue at all what she meant to him? Didn't she know that it would shred him inside if he lost her? And still she was determined to put herself in the line of fire regardless of what he wanted.

It had to have been worse for his brother. Not only would Daryl lose the one person in the world that he couldn't live without but he would lose his own child. Merle was starting to understand why Daryl was so high strung. Merle couldn't imagine having two people to worry about like he worried about Beth.

His head shot up when he heard the door open. He expected Hershel or Maggie to be back but it wasn't either of them. It was Carol. He would have laughed at her if every ounce of humor hadn't been zapped out of him by the nights grim turn of events. She was wearing an oversized coat with her hands shoved into the pockets and the hood pulled up over her head. Her feet were clad in a ridiculous pair a fuzzy house slippers and she was wearing oversized mens pajama pants.

She shoved the hood off her head and her eyes went directly to Beth before finally settling on him. "She hasn't woken up yet?" she whispered.

Merle shook his head and glanced down at the impossibly pale face. He was glad it was Carol instead of one of the others. He didn't have to pretend to be fine. She knew him too well and would have seen right through him anyway.

Her blue eyes went soft as she regarded him sadly. "She will, Merle. You just have to give it time."

"Time don't seem like somethin' we got a lot of anymore," he said in a voice that sounded as broken as he felt. He probably shouldn't have said that to her but it slipped out before he could really think of what he was saying. He looked up, ready to see new fear and hurt in her eyes but she only smiled at him softly.

"I don't believe that at all. I know Daryl doesn't believe it. Beth doesn't either. This new life isn't easy but it's what we've been dealt. We just have to figure out a way to make it work."

She took off the coat and draped it over the back of the vacant chair on the other side of the bed but she didn't sit down. She still looked a little nervous, like she had earlier. She blamed herself somehow and figured that he probably did too. This wasn't anything she had asked for. It was just something that happened and he knew that. He would never blame her for this.

He sighed and then stood up, feeling too much nervous energy to spend any more time sitting there waiting. He felt like he had been waiting there for days instead of hours. He felt like he was about to lose his damn mind.

He stopped when she reached out and grabbed his hand. His eyes were still on the floor.

"Merle, I can sit with her if you wanna go talk to the others. I think Buck and Rick are talking with Guillermo and his men about how to go about attacking Woodbury. Maybe you'll feel better once we have a solid plan."

He shook his head. "It's bad enough that she bout got killed while I was gone. I ain't gonna have her wakin' up and me not be here," he said with a shake of his head. "Whatever Buck comes up with is law anyway. Me bein' there ain't gonna change anything." He didn't say it grudgingly. They all knew that Buck was the man in charge and so far every single call he made had kept them alive. The man handed out death sentences without a second thought but he also was more than capable of saving them all. Merle knew that and so did the rest of the group.

He almost wished Carol would just go away. Nothing was going to pull him out of this desolate mood and he didn't want to unload his burden on her. Then again he felt as though he needed her there. From the time the world went to hell until now there had been very little time to really talk to her and he actually missed her.

"You and Daryl patch things up? You know you're killin' the boy with the way ya been actin'?"

She looked away and nodded. "I can't believe you didn't smack me upside the head. Knock some sense into me for treating him that way."

"I was savin' it for after the baby came. Then I was gonna kick your ass all proper like," he felt the corner of his mouth turn up at the sound of her quiet laughter.

"Good. I'm glad to see that some things haven't changed much."

"Not for me and you I don't suppose." And for that he was grateful. He finally focused on her standing there in front of him and he gave her a smile, teeth and all. "Startin' to look like you swallowed a soccer ball." Without a second thought he placed his hands on the sides of her stomach and looked down.

Carol looked down at her protruding belly and then back up at him, a scowl on her face. "I do not," she grumbled and then tried to pull the t-shirt away from her body but it just snapped back in place.

"How come you're so much fatter than Lori?" he asked and then ducked away from her hand when she tried to smack him.

"Sometimes I really can't stand you, Merle," she glared and crossed her arms over her chest.

He needed this. He needed this really bad. Normalcy. He shot her a grin. "You love me and ya know it."

She sighed and let her arms drop back to her sides. "I really do. I have no idea why but it's the truth." She caught him completely off guard when she slid her arms around his waist and laid her head down on his chest.

He felt a little of the tension fade away as his arms went around her. His arms were still around her when she turned around at the sound of Beth's voice. His head shot up as a heavy breath rushed out of him.

"I don't think they let folks as weird as the two of you in heaven," her pale lips turned up in a smile, "So I'm guessin' I survived?"

Merle couldn't swallow down the lump in his throat and he was much slower to react than Carol. She untangled herself from him and took a step towards the bed, pushing blonde hair out of Beth's face.

"Who the hell ever said you'd make it past the first check point?" Carol asked quietly as she took Beth's hand.

Beth let her gaze drift from Carol to Merle and the small smile grew. "I probably wouldn't, now that I've been spendin' so much of my time with all you sinful Dixons."

Carol laughed and then kissed Beth's forehead quickly before moving away from the bed. "Isn't that the truth," she said as she gave Merle a wink before heading towards the door. She left without saying another word.

Merle still just stood there staring at the girl like a fool that had lost his ability to move. She watched him closely. He wasn't sure what he was suppose to say. A part of him was pissed beyond belief that she had gone and gotten herself shot but that was just the fear talking. Another part of him wanted to storm out of the room and distance himself from her from now on so he wouldn't have to go through anything like this again. What he finally did was sit down heavily in the chair next to her and grabbed her hand.

He didn't shed any tears and he didn't sob and babble on like some fool. He simply rested his forehead on the mattress next to her and, for the first time since learning she had been shot, let the relief that she wasn't dead wash over him.

But deep down a switch had been flipped. Deep down something was brewing inside him that would rear it's head eventually, and when it finally let itself out, it was not going to be a pretty sight. He thought about his family and he thought about the faith Carol had shared with him that they would all make it. He thought about the baby that he could already feel moving and growing inside her and he thought about the woman he loved in the bed that had barely survived being shot by a lunatic. Someone was going to pay for this and they were going to pay for it very soon.

~H~

Buck looked out the window at the snow that was starting fall. Silence filled the room even though it was packed full of people. He knew that a few people wanted to argue but no one did. He had made the decision of who would stay behind and who would go. A few that were staying were pretty pissed off. He was proud of that though. He didn't blame them at all but he couldn't just go and leave the place unprotected.

Guillermo had discussed it with him earlier. Fifteen of his men were going to Woodbury, leaving ten men there to protect their elderly. Buck was leaving eleven of his own, only taking eight in his own group to defend against Philip's men. They would have surprise on their side, not to mention weapons and the know how to use them. Most of their own guns were illegal, meaning that they had been modified to cause more damage than ordinary guns, and the ones that hadn't been altered had been fitted with bump stocks which made them capable of letting loose at least twenty four rounds at a time. They were in good shape so far.

"I know y'all would like to argue but this is the best plan. It keeps the old folks and the women here safe. At least the two women that need protected the most," he turned around and gazed at the men and women looking back at him. "You got any questions or is the plan simple enough for ya?"

Of course Michonne stepped forward. "What about the civilians? There's women and children there too. People that can't properly defend themselves."

Buck gave her a cold look but her stare never wavered. She was a definitely a brazen bitch. "They ain't our problem. If they can't take care of themselves then that's their own fault."

"You expect us to gun down children?" she asked in a disgusted voice.

There was something knowing in the way she was looking at him that had his blood turning colder than the snow falling behind the glass. His fingers brushed the bracelet in his pocket as he glared back at her. "We'll deal with the civilians once Philip and his men are taken care of. If it can be helped then no innocents will get killed," he ground out from between clenched teeth.

There wasn't much more to say after that and eventually everyone started to file out. Daryl and Andrea hung back until everyone else had left.

"Is there anything else we need to know about?" Andrea asked before Daryl even had a chance to say anything.

He shook his head and leaned against the wall. "That covers it. You two can go on now. I got a few more things to iron out with Guillermo and then I'm callin' it a night."

Daryl studied him for a few more seconds but then finally he too slunk out the door. Andrea watched him still, her head tilted to the side.

"Something else is going on with you. Why won't you tell me what it is? It's been going on for a while now."

He felt the muscle in his jaw start to twitch as he looked away. "Man has every right to be on edge once the world ends, woman. How bout you cut me some slack. I'm doin' what I can here."

She nodded in agreement. "You aren't just any man. If it was going to bother you at all it would have bothered you most in the beginning like it did everyone else. Tell me what happened when you went with Merle and Michonne that night. You haven't been yourself since."

His nostrils flared as he remembered that night once more. The night he had hesitated when that little girl walker had lunged at him. Sure, he had hesitated then when the fucking girl was pretty much already dead but he hadn't hesitated on another night. He shook his head angrily and glared at her. "Go on home," he said, barely able to keep the rage out of his voice. He didn't want to think about that.

"Buck, you know you can talk to me about things..."

"Are you fuckin' deaf?" He barked.

She took a step back and then narrowed her eyes at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and stared back out the window. He wasn't going to fight with her. He just needed to be alone for a while. Sort out all those fucked up thoughts in his head. He didn't expect her to go so when he glanced back over his shoulder a few minutes later he was surprised to find that she had silently left the room.

He turned back to the window with a heart as heavy as lead. He had been trying for a while now to banish memories from his mind but they just wouldn't go away. They were memories that had laid dormant for years. Many years. Never coming all the way to the surface but now seemed to be at the forefront of his thoughts. There wasn't any way to get rid of them so he sat down in one of the chairs with his face in his hands and let them cloud his brain. He finally went ahead and gave into it. He let himself remember, purposely, in detail, the night that had changed him inside. He had been a bad man before that night. After that night he had transformed into an unfeeling monster.

It had been years ago, long before Daryl had been born. Merle was just a little thing back then and even though he didn't really like leaving the boy alone for too long with Jenna, he had a job to do out of town and he had to do it.

There was a man from Alabama that had been spotted pushing knock off dope around their area for a huge price cut, putting a real damper on Oscar's daddy's business. Buck had gotten the orders to find out who the supplier was and eradicate the competition. He had gotten the leads he had needed and wasn't feeling any remorse for doing what he had to do. He rode out that night to do the job. Back then there wasn't too much in the way of security and even when there was Buck was smooth enough to get himself to where he needed to be.

He had received word that it was only suppose to be the man and his wife. He could spare the woman if he felt like it. That was all up to him. The house had been dark and he made quick work of the locks on the door. The man must have been in the business for a while because he wasn't living very modestly. The house was huge with an elaborate floor plan but that wasn't a hindrance to him either.

It hadn't turned out to be as simple as he thought it would be. His informant hadn't mentioned anything about house guests but there had been. Once he made it to the second floor a man just happened to be coming out of the bathroom. Buck shot him clean through the forehead but not before the man cried out, alerting anyone else in the house of his presence. They wouldn't have heard the hiss from the shot since his piece was equipped with a sound suppressor. Only the best for Buck Dixon.

Before he knew it there were four other men coming at him. Only one of them were armed but his aim was off and Buck was able to take them all out. By now he was pissed. This was suppose to be an easy hit. Go in, get rid of the guy and his wife and then get the fuck out. The gunshot alerted the boss that Buck had come to kill and Buck just narrowly missed getting his head blown off.

Buck didn't want to shoot the man anymore. The bastard had made his job much harder than it was suppose to have been and Buck wanted to beat him to death for the inconvenience. But he couldn't do that. He didn't think anyone would have alerted the authorities but he didn't want to take a chance. He shot the man and then rushed into the bedroom, shooting the woman who was making a run for the adjoining bathroom.

He was stone cold sober but that didn't mean he wasn't high on adrenalin. He was soaring by the time he hightailed it out of the master bedroom. He avoided stepping in any blood as he hurried down the hall to check the other rooms when suddenly one of the doors started to creep open. Knowing that the chances of the person behind that door being armed were pretty high he shot right through it.

He used his boot to shove the door open, gun raised, ready to take out anybody on the other side. The first thing he noticed was that the body was much easier to push than he had expected. That right there should have told him not to look but he looked anyway.

Lying on the floor in a pool of bright blood was a kid. He had frozen. He had done a lot of real bad shit in his life but hurting a kid was never something he would do. He was a father. Sure, he wasn't a good one but he treated Merle as good as he could. He never would have hurt him or any other kid. But here one lay. A little girl no older than ten. A few inches away from her outstretched hand was a white stuffed animal, on her slender wrist was a threaded bracelet. Her brown eyes were open, wide and shocked. Unseeing.

He couldn't process it at first but finally the realization of what he had done seeped into his bones, cold and dense. He felt something inside him die a little that night. Something dark had unfurled inside him and it had latched onto his very soul. It was the only way he could explain it. By the time he had left the house he was someone else. Someone worse than he ever thought he would be. He was worse than his own father. He was cold inside.

The informant who had reported to him that the house would be mostly empty died that night. So had everyone else that had been unfortunate enough to be there that night. Luckily for Buck there had been no kids. He wasn't sure at that point if it would have even mattered.

He'd still been a decent man to his own son but he had forced himself to be. He had to refrain from lashing out at the boy. Jenna had known there was something wrong with him right away and seemed to relish in bringing that night up. It was after that night that he had started sampling his bosses product. He found it had dimmed the memories a little and over time he had pushed it all out of his mind. He was still colder and he was still crueler than he had been before but the reasons stayed locked up in some secret place in his head.

Until that walker had come at him. She hadn't looked like the little girl he had murdered that night but she had been about the same build and that fucking bracelet that she had been wearing had opened those doors all the way. It unleashed the memories of those cold dark eyes. A life he had snuffed out himself. She haunted him now, all these years later.

"Buck?"

He lifted his head slowly. He knew his eyes were dry but his face must have been that of a tortured man because Carol's eyes grew misty as soon as her eyes locked on to his.

"I wanted to let you know that Beth is awake," she said in a near whisper.

He nodded and then cleared his throat. "That's good."

She stared at him for a few minutes and then looked down, a frown forming between her eyebrows. "What's that?"

He followed her stare and was surprised to see that he had taken the bracelet out of his pocket. He held it out to her. "Just somethin' I found. Don't know why I been hangin' on to it," he lied.

She took a step closer and took it, looking down at it curiously. It was dirty and blood stained but she didn't act like that bothered her. She looked thoughtful as she tilted her head to the side and peered at it for longer than she should have. "You didn't know her?"

Buck shook his head. "Walker," was his muttered response.

Her eyes flicked up and met his again, "A little girl?" she asked.

He nodded silently before tearing his eyes away from her.

"Sophia," she said the name out loud in a quiet voice.

He nodded. That was the name that was stitched into the bracelet.

"I like that name. Maybe Daryl will too. Can we use it?" she asked, causing him to look up at her once more.

He shrugged. "Ain't been a girl born in the Dixon clan for many moons. Don't count on you havin' one. It'll most likely be a boy and if he's anything like his uncle Merle and me he'll weigh ten pounds or more." He felt his mood lighten a little.

She shook her head and grimaced. "No way am I having a baby that big. And it'll be a girl. I already know."

"Hershel already check ya out then?" He asked. He was a little disappointed. He'd been hoping he would get to have a look himself.

She shook her head. "Not yet. I just know already."

Buck let himself smile, feeling a little better than he had before. The girl had that effect on him. "You're just hopin' is all."

She shook her head stubbornly and handed the bracelet back to him. He gently pushed her hand away so she put it into the pocket of her coat and then grabbed his hand, pulling it until he stood up. When he did she started leading him towards the exit doors.

"Where we goin'?" he asked as he let her lead him outside. The snow felt good.

"You need to have a long talk with your son," she said over her shoulder. She sounded angry.

He frowned as he fell in step beside her. He kept her hand in his. "What the hell did Daryl do now?" he had been hoping they would have still been on good terms.

She shook her head. "Not Daryl. He's perfect. It's Merle."

"What about him?"

She stopped in the middle of the street and pulled her hand out of his so she could put it on her hip. "He said I was fat. You need to rough him up a bit."

He studied her for a few long minutes before he finally couldn't help it anymore. He laughed at her.

She glared at him. "That's not funny, Buck!"

He shook his head and sighed. He was more than glad she had came to tell him about Beth. He pulled her closer and hugged her gently, mindful not to squeeze her too hard. "Once this Woodbury business is over I'll kick his ass for it, alright?"

She nodded against his chest and then craned her neck to look up at him as he straightened up to his full height. The hood fell back and he could see the small smile on her lips. She looked amused and she gave him a wink. "I'm glad I could pull you out of whatever mood you were in."

"God knows if anybody can do it, it's you, baby girl." His tone was light but he meant it. He put his hands to the sides of her face and kissed her quickly on the side of the mouth. "Now, get your ass to your apartment before that baby and you freeze to death out here. I'm gonna check in on Beth and then go kiss Andrea's ass till she forgives me for bein' a dickhead."

She made a face. "I don't need details, Buck. Keep that stuff in the bedroom."

He felt his eyes widen. "You been spendin' too much damn time with Merle," he accused. "Go on home."

She grinned and then walked off towards the building. He watched until she was inside before he made his way down the street towards the clinic. He still felt the burden of his memories pressing down on him but it wasn't as intense as before. For the first time since all this started he let himself really imagine what it was going to be like to have a hand in the raising of his own grandkid. He was a better man now than he ever had been before. That was a start. It gave him just a little bit of hope that maybe everything really would be okay. Maybe there really was a little hope for all of them.


	20. Chapter 20

**I am so sorry this has taken me so very long to update. I spilled water all over my laptop and it was down for the count for a little while and that is about the only excuse I got. After this chapter it is pretty much action time. I'm excited cause I love writing the fighting and killing stuff. I know, think I'm weird if you must, but it comes easier to me than the smut! LOL**

**Thank you to everyone that read the new one shot! I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. I hope you like this one. I tried to make it mostly funny but it's also a little sad. Thank you so much for sticking with me through this! **

Chapter Twenty

It snowed all that night, leaving an almost seamless blanket of snow covering the town. The only thing that broke the smooth surface was the footprints from the ones that switched out on watch and the ones doing the patrols. Merle felt his brother's eyes on him but he paid him no mind. He already knew what the boy was going to say to him. He'd spent the whole damn night in that fucking chair in that makeshift doctors office.

Beth hadn't been awake for long but when she had fallen to sleep he was okay with the knowledge that all it was was sleep. She would wake up. Everything would be fine. But he hadn't done nothing but doze off here and there and now he was tired. It wasn't a good day to be tired. Now they had to go have a meeting with everyone.

"How was Beth doing this morning?" Carol asked after wading through the snow in silence for a while.

"She ate like a horse. Guess that's a good thing," he said, unable to hide how pleased he was that he was able to say that.

Carol grinned and then leaned into his side. "That's a _very_ good thing."

He draped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer. She had to have been freezing. He felt her shiver a little and grinned down at her. "Ya know, you shouldn't be so cold with all that extra paddin' your puttin' on. You should be the one tryin' to warm me up."

Daryl groaned. "Shut the hell up. Ya know how long it took me to convince her that she ain't fat. Your a goddamn asshole, ya know that?"

He was about to say something but a sharp pain in his side had him jumping away from Carol. For a second he thought she'd went hormone crazy and stabbed him. He raised his jacket and shirt and inspected the area. It was red and already turning purple. "Ya pinched the shit outta me, ya dick!" he grouched as he poked at the edges of the bruise.

She slid her hand into Daryl's and stomped past him. "You call me fat again and the next thing I pinch is coming with me and Beth ain't gonna be too happy with me afterwords," she called over her shoulder.

He narrowed his eyes at them and then jogged to catch back up. He didn't put his arm around her again. Not since he wasn't sure if he could trust her. The three of them were some of the first ones there from their own group. The Mexican's were already lining the back wall. They were using the library as a sort of meeting place since their ranks had nearly doubled. He didn't have a problem with the new group. They seemed to be just like them. They were just trying to survive. He had to respect the fact that they were here, in a place where they were still strangers to everyone and were still willing to risk their lives to keep it safe, not just for their own family but for his family as well.

Buck was there with Andrea glued to his side. He frowned when he got a closer look at the man. If he didn't know any better he would have to say that Buck had what looked like a slight black eye. Forgetting what had happened outside a few minutes earlier he elbowed Carol lightly. "I think somebody done popped the old man in the eye," he whispered.

He looked down at her. She was squinting and then she nodded and bit her lip. "I think you're right."

Merle and Daryl leaned against a book shelf and waited quietly for the others to show up. Carol stayed in front of his brother, his arms around her with his hands shoved into the pockets of her oversized coat. This got him to thinking about something.

"Can y'all feel it movin' around in there yet?" He asked in a low voice.

Carol rolled her eyes. "Yep. It's put a real damper on my sex life."

Daryl scowled at the back of her head. "Shut the hell up."

Merle chuckled but his curiosity was peeked. "I wanna feel it," he blurted, causing Daryl to scowl again. "Don't look at me like that asshole, I wanted this baby from the start, even when the thought of it had ya bout to piss your panties. I gotta right to feel it."

With a frown still in place Daryl huffed and then took his hands out of her pockets and pushed her gently until she was standing in front of Merle.

"I can feel it through the coat? Goddamn, is there two of'em in there?" he asked.

Daryl blanched. "Jesus, don't you put that evil on me!" he hissed causing Merle and Carol to laugh.

Merle slid his hands into Carol's coat pockets and splayed his hands out over the bulge. He didn't feel anything at first. He glanced up and noticed that Guillermo's entire group was watching the three of them. Some wore looks of confusion and other looked pretty shocked. Guillermo and Felipe both had their heads tilted to the side like a couple of confused puppies.

He was thinking about doing something to shock them further but then he felt a slight nudge against the palm of his hand and his eyes shot over to Daryl's. "Holy shit!" he nearly yelled, causing Carol to jump and the baby to kick the hell out of his hand again. A few of their own group was there now and they were all staring at him. His own group just smiled and shook their heads but Guillermo and his men looked more confused than ever.

"You plan on givin' my damn kid back any time soon?" Daryl asked, his expression crossed between annoyed and amused.

"Hell no. You get it all the time. It's my turn," he said, maybe a little too loudly since every set of eyes in the room was on them now.

"Damn it Merle! That new group thinks you two are actually fighting over me. Keep your voice down," Carol hissed.

Merle did as she said so she wouldn't pull away. That angry fire from the night before was still burning low inside of him and thinking about that baby had made it worse. Now he could feel it moving under his hands and the angry fire that had been burning quietly erupted into a fierce flame, but it wasn't so much anger anymore. It was an overwhelming need to protect it. Protect the baby, protect Beth and protect Carol. That was what he needed to do.

He coaxed one more tiny nudge from the little thing and then he gave Carol back to his brother, who resumed his spot with his hands in her coat pockets. He would have laughed at poor Guillermo now but he wasn't in the mood for laughing anymore. He was in the mood to get this show on the road. Almost all of his own group was there now. Beth, of course, was sitting this one out and Buck had ordered Hershel and Duane to stay with her. Duane had been furious that he wasn't going to be one of the members to go on this little raid. Buck made the right call as far as Merle was concerned but Buck did give it much thought before denying the boy permission to go along. He was tough and he learned quick and he knew Woodbury. But the fact that he was only thirteen years old was a deal breaker for the old man.

"I bet Andrea did it," Carol whispered.

"Did what?" he asked.

Carol gestured towards Buck and Andrea at the front of the room. "She hit him." Carol laughed and then nestled herself further into Daryl's chest.

Merle barked out a laugh, again, causing the others in the room to look at the three of them again. Buck started talking then so Merle didn't get a chance to ask him about that shiner of his.

"Rick is gonna pass out guns and ammo after dinner tonight. Y'all know it ain't a hundred percent that we're all comin' back so now would be a good time to spend with your family and your friends. I ain't gonna act like you're gonna see'em again." He took his time to stare down every person in the room, like he was daring them to say something to contradict him. No one did but the mood in the room grew somber. Faces grew hard and determined. This was what made Buck Dixon a leader. He didn't bullshit no one.

Carol slipped her hand through his as she leaned into Daryl further. Guillermo's group didn't pay them any mind anymore. The only thing that Merle didn't understand was why Rick was the one Buck was putting in charge of distribution. That job should have gone straight to himself or his brother. As good a man as Rick had become, he wasn't in the same rank in Buck's militia as him and Daryl were.

"Why Rick?" Merle asked out loud.

Buck eyed him and then that fierce look wavered as he glanced down at Carol. Fuck. Something else was going on and Merle had a sinking feeling in his gut.

"Cause we won't be here come supper time, boy. The three of us leave out in an hour." He looked away and Merle could only imagine why. Carol's grip on his hand became painful. This wasn't part of what they had discussed last night. What the hell was Buck doing?

There was a low buzz of voices as everyone started talking to one another at once, their voices low. One voice however, filled with anger, silenced the room.

"Why?" Carol snapped, taking a few steps towards the front of the room. Daryl pulled her back gently but Merle wasn't sure it would do his brother any good. He had never seen that look on her face before. Buck needed to watch out cause Merle was pretty sure that Carol wasn't far from blacking his other eye.

Buck met her gaze with a steady one of his own. "Because Michonne knows the place and Duane does too. They said they had scouts that leave the wall. There's a perimeter that they walk outside the town to keep out any hostile people. They need to be taken down right after their shift changes so no one will miss'em. Then our people can get inside without anyone soundin' an alarm. That's why."

"That's bullshit!" She snapped.

Every single person in the room was now gaping at her. "Carol, I know what I'm doin'," Buck said in a hard voice.

"Why them!" she nearly shouted as she let go of Merle's hand and stormed halfway across the room. "Why?"

Buck crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a look that had most of the men in the room nearly cowering.

"Don't think for one damn minute that I'm gonna back down from this Buck Dixon. You can stomp your foot and send every man in this room running with their damn tails between their legs. I'm not them. You need to wipe that look off your face and tell me why? Why the hell are you risking them and no one else?"

Buck blinked a few times and then glanced around at everyone watching him before his gaze fell back on her. "Because they're the only one's I trust to do the damn job. Does it make a difference? No matter who goes, baby girl, it's a life risked. Who the fuck am I to decide anybodies fate? You want this job? Huh? Take it then. If you think this decision was an easy one to make then you're more goddamn wrong than you ever been."

"And if something happens to one of them?" she asked, still not willing to back down from the giant that was now just a few feet in front of her.

"That ain't gonna happen. Not with the three of us out there," he said between clenched teeth.

"You better hope so, Buck. Because if this baby loses her daddy before she can even lay eyes on him, that's one more thing that's on your damn conscience. And when the time comes, you'll be the one to look her in the eye and tell her why he isn't here." She turned then and stormed out the door.

Buck flinched at her words and stared off at the door she had disappeared through for a long time before his eyes moved back to settle on him and Daryl.

"Go on and get yourselves ready," he said in a rough voice, nodding towards the door.

Merle understood why Buck was doing what he was doing but he understood Carol's fear too. He wanted to talk to Buck. There were plenty of other men that were just as good as they were. Maybe he'd talk to him and then Daryl would get to stay. Instead of voicing any of this, however, he followed a grim Daryl out the door and into the impossibly bright morning.

He wanted to see Beth. Daryl was on his own with this one. Carol was going to be in hell cat mode and he was afraid he was going to end up getting the same thing after he told Beth what the new plan was.

~H~

She couldn't believe it. She couldn't bring herself to believe that Buck was doing this. He was risking his own sons and it wasn't right. She knew about his past. She knew how hard he was and how cold he could be but this? This wasn't like him. Not the man he was now.

She wiped angry tears from her cheeks and stormed into the apartment. She wanted to break something. Like Buck's nose. Her hand went to her stomach. Why did this have to be happening now? Why couldn't the world have waited just a little while longer to go to hell? Why was it so crucial to be so strong?

"Hey," Daryl said in a soft voice behind her.

She spun around, knowing she had to pull herself together. He had to do this and she had to let him. She couldn't make this harder than it had to be for him. She swiped the tears away once more as he studied her face miserably. "I'm sorry about that," she whispered. "Must be hormones or something. I..." she couldn't do it. She felt her face fall and then he was pulling her against him.

She hated herself for every sob that escaped her but she couldn't be strong right now. She didn't want to be. She wanted him there. She needed him there and he had to go. Just him and Merle and Buck. It was scary enough that tonight they were all going to be at risk but that was different. Tonight they were marching out with an army of men. All of them were trained and all of them were armed and all of them were ready to risk life and limb to protect their small corner of the world. To protect her. But just the three of them out there? That was bad.

"We'll be alright. Ain't none of us gonna get spotted, alright? Buck and Merle, they spent most of their lives sneakin' around and hidin' from cops and I'm a goddamn stealthy hunter. Won't none of us get spotted. We're pretty much trained." His voice was smooth and even. He didn't sound worried. Of course he wouldn't. He was a fucking Dixon and they all thought they were invincible.

She still couldn't help but choke out a half hearted laugh at the image of Merle and Buck slipping away from the police. He cupped her face and pulled it back so he could look at her. "You cut the old man pretty deep," he said as he watched her eyes carefully. "You know he's only doin' what he thinks he has too. Hell, out of the three of us I'm the one that's the safest. I got the bow. Them two have to get close enough to take them out with knives."

She dropped her gaze to the top button of his shirt, unable to meet his eyes anymore. He was right but she was more scared now than she had been since all of this had started. She couldn't go on without him. She couldn't raise a baby on her own. If he didn't come home it would kill her. She knew it would.

"You gonna be alright?" he asked as he tilted her chin up, forcing her to meet his eyes.

She nodded. "I have to be."

He kissed her lightly and then she tightened her grip around his neck and pressed her forehead against his chest, breathing in the smell of him. "You might need to talk to him before we head out. His heads gonna be all fucked up. He don't need a fucked up head out there."

She was starting to feel it now. Guilt. She hated feeling guilty because she had a reason to be as angry as she was. He was risking Daryl's life for... Oh damn it. He was risking Daryl's life to insure that her and the baby stayed safe. That wasn't something any man could ever do easily and the things she had said to him were so hurtful. Buck needed her and baby safe and he didn't trust anyone other than Merle and Daryl and himself to make that happen. All this did was make her cry harder. She was such a blubbering idiot. She was cruel and hurtful and completely spoiled, always thinking that they needed to do exactly what she wanted them to do. What in the hell was wrong with her?

She was going to talk to him before they left. She would tell him she was sorry and she would tell him that she understood and they would be fine. They were Dixon's and they would be back because they didn't fail. But right now she needed to spend as much time with Daryl as she could.

She curled up in his lap on the couch after he got all of his stuff ready to go. She could have stayed like that forever but knew that time was very limited. She wanted to see Merle before they left too but she didn't want to leave their apartment. Something occurred to her then and she pulled her face away from his, breaking a very heated kiss.

"Oh my God. What do you think that new group was thinking in there? I bet they didn't even know which one of you was the baby's dad! Damn, Merle!"

Daryl couldn't hide the laugh. "They'll find out soon enough. Did you see their faces though?" He laughed again.

She shook her head and heaved herself up off his lap. "I swear, I don't know why I always think about these things when it's too late to do anything about it. How embarrassing."

He shrugged and looked up at her. "You and Merle kinda bring it on yourselves."

She reached down and kissed him again before grabbing his hand and trying to pull him up. "Double check everything. You have to leave soon." The words almost stuck in her throat but she kept the brave face in place. She was a Dixon's woman and she had to stop breaking down like an idiot all the time. She had to be as strong as they were.

Daryl took off down the hall as soon as the door opened up and Buck stormed in. His face was almost scary, even to her.

"That stunt you pulled in there," he nearly roared, "That was bullshi..."

"I'm sorry," she said as she grabbed his hand. "I'm so sorry I said that. I know why you're doing this and I never should have acted that way." She spoke fast, trying to cool his temper before everyone in the building heard him yelling at her.

He shut his mouth but still glared down at her. The fact that he was damn near two feet taller than her made her feel even more like some petulant child that misbehaved. "You best consider yourself lucky that baby is in there, cause what your ass needs is bent over someone's knee. I'm tryin' to keep you alive. I'm riskin' every goddamn thing that means anything to me to make sure that baby has a chance. To make sure you have a chance. Do you understand me?"

She nodded, feeling her eyes fill with tears again, knowing that she had hurt him.

"I love you. I love you like you was my own, but don't you ever talk to me like that again. Don't you throw shit up in my face to make me feel worse than I already do. If that's the way you're plannin' on bein' then I'd rather you just keep your distance."

She bit her lip and reminded herself that she deserved this. She'd stooped low in there and she knew it, but that didn't make this verbal assault any less painful. He blurred in front of her when tears filled her eyes but she only blinked, letting them escape and not bothering to wipe them away. She earned them.

He knelt down then, balancing on the balls of his feet making it easier for her to look him in the eye as his large hands gripped her waist. His face softened. "You gotta know that everything I do is for you and that baby. You gotta stop fightin' me cause your scared. You gotta suck it up and you gotta be tough. Ain't nothin' gonna keep us from comin' home once this is over." His voice was much more gentle now and for some reason that made it hurt more.

All she could do was nod once his hands moved around to each side of her stomach. A strange look came over his face.

"Sophia, right?" he asked, not looking at her face.

She nodded. Daryl had actually liked the name.

He ran his thumbs over the top and then looked up, finally meeting her eyes. "We'll be back before dawn. Then I want your ass hooked up to that machine so I can finally get a look at the little girl that's got you actin like a goddamn lunatic." The corner of his mouth turned up and he stood up, pulling her close. She held onto him as tight as she could, silently thanking God that he had forgiven her for what she had said.


End file.
